


CoG: The Missing Link

by NorthSouthGorem



Category: Psyren, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: 'Quirkless' Midoriya Izuku, Alternate Universe - Harem, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bubaigawara Jin just needs a friend, F/M, Midoriya Izuku is not the 9th Holder of One For All, Multi, Teamwork makes the dream work, The Butterfly Effect is a bitch, Time Travel, Toga Himiko just wants to be normal, midoriya izuku is terrifying, psychic powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23825380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthSouthGorem/pseuds/NorthSouthGorem
Summary: Midoriya Izuku was always meant to become the greatest hero. However, a slight detour on that road can lead to harsher challenges, but greater rewards.
Relationships: Ashido Mina/Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Hadou Nejire/Midoriya Izuku, Hagakure Tooru/Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku/Melissa Shield, Midoriya Izuku/Toga Himiko, Midoriya Izuku/Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Yaoyorozu Momo
Comments: 55
Kudos: 120





	1. The Phone Card

AN: Let’s begin…

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the properties inherent in either Boku no Hero Academia or PSYREN.

“Speech”  
Text  
 _Thoughts_  
 _Empowered Thoughts_  
 **Super Mode**  
 **Special Attacks/Ability**

Chapter 1: The Phone Card

That day started out like any other for Midoriya Izuku. He got up in the morning, had his breakfast, said goodbye to his mother and left for school.

Along the way, he got to see a Villain in action; a giant of a man who had started terrorizing the Tatooine Train Station.

Izuku had watched in awe as the up-and-coming hero, Kamui Woods, had quickly arrived on the scene. The wooden hero had fought in a brilliant display of athletics and use of his Wooden Body Quirk, but ultimately the villain was defeated by an unexpected newcomer: a giant heroine going by the name Mt. Lady.

The young boy, ever a fanatic of all kinds of heroes, had immediately started taking notes. After all, this was the debut of a new hero! And he was there to see her in person! Surely there could be no better time to observe as much about her style and Quirk as he could, right? At least, that was his reasoning, but the young, green-haired lad would also admit that it was also because he was a major hero otaku.

An old man had noticed Izuku’s note-taking and praised him for it, encouraging him to try and become a Hero himself.

The cheer those words inspired in him lifted his spirits for much of the day.

At least, until…

Alderaan Middle School

“Alright, settle down!” their teacher called out. He was a reedy, middle-aged man, going bald, with the general look of a person who had spent too many years of his life teaching adolescent children. He held up a stack of papers, saying, “Since you lot are going to be graduating this year, now’s the time where you have to start thinking about your futures.”

As he spoke, the students started fidgeting, Quirks causing more than a few to mutate slightly as their excitement mounted.

Then the teacher smirked, throwing the papers into the air. “Heh! I say that, but you guys all want to go into the Heroics Department, don’t you?”

The students went wild, displaying their Quirks proudly. One boy pulled his own eyes out, another growing sharp blades from ahoge on his head. A girl in glasses levitated her pencil case, but otherwise kept writing.

Hidden in the rowdy crowd, Midoriya Izuku sat slumped over his desk, trying desperately not to be noticed.

“Hey, sensei!” barked a boy with blond, spiky hair. He sat at his own desk with an air of casual arrogance, his feet planted on the tabletop and leaning back in his chair. “Don’t you lump me together with these rejects. There’s nothin’ about me comparable to them!”

Izuku flinched at the sound of his voice. _K-Kacchan’s as bold as always…_ he thought, his emotions a confused mix.

The young man, Bakugou Katsuki, was one of the top students in the class, not only in smarts, but also in the quality of his Quirk. His personality, on the other hand.

“Hey! That’s going too far, Katsuki!”

“That’s right, that’s right! Where do you get off acting so high and mighty?!”

Bakugou sneered at the rest of the class. “Shaddup, you pointless side characters! I’m headed right to the top!”

“Oh, yes, that’s right,” murmured the teacher, looking over a particular sheet of paper, “You’re applying to Yuuei Academy, aren’t you?”

Izuku froze. _Yuuei Academy?!_

The school was considered far and away the best school in Japan when it came to producing pro Heroes. The number one Hero, All Might, was the most well-known of their alumni. Of course, that also meant that their Hero course was the hardest to get into.

“Yuuei!? That top school? Isn’t the entrance exam super-hard?”

“Geeze, you sure have a high opinion of yourself…”

“Hah! That’s why you lot are only extras!” Bakugou barked. He leaped up onto the desk, fist clenched as he towered over the masses. “I took the mock exam and I aced it! _I’m_ the only one from this school going to Yuuei!” Sparks burst from between his curled fingers as he crowed, “I’ll surpass All Might and take my place as the Number 1 hero-!”

The teacher, who was only listening with half an ear and leafing through more high school applications, murmured, “Oh, that’s right. Midoriya also applied to Yuuei.”

Izuku twitched. Bakugou froze. The rest of the class _stared._

“PFFFFTHAHAHAHAHA!” And then everyone burst out laughing.

“Midoriya?!” asked one boy derisively.

A girl nearby giggled. “No way that could happen.”

The green-haired boy fidgeted, looking increasingly uncomfortable under the weight of the comments and mocking laughter.

“Yuuei’s hero course isn’t something you can just get into with studying, you know!”

At this, he stood up, looking frantic. “Th-that’s not true!” he protested shakily, “They-they repealed that policy just recently-!”

*BOOM!*

A hand slapped down on Izuku’s desk, accompanied by a literal explosion of light and sound that fractured the wooden top and sent the freckled boy reeling back onto the floor. Bakugou stood over him, his palm still smoking. “You good-for-nothing Deku!” he snarled, “You of all people…even compared to all these minor characters, you’re just a _nobody!_ You’ve got no Quirk at all! So why are you even trying to get into the same arena as me?”

“W-w-wait a second, not so fast, Kacchan!” squeaked Izuku, scuttling back on his butt until his back hit the wall, “It’s not like that at all! I wasn’t think of competing with you…” his eyes flicked away and he continued weakly, “It’s just…I’ve dreamed of this all my life, s-so…y’know, there’s no harm in trying…”

He knew that such a tone would only invite more verbal abuse, but he couldn’t help but want to justify himself. And sure enough…

“Haaah?!” drawled the explosive young man, smoke wafting dangerously from his palms, “No harm in trying? What a half-assed answer!”

While none of the other students added anything on top of that, every last one of them fixed their curly-haired classmate with a look. Though they were not all the same, especially with the bizarreness of their Quirks, it felt as though Izuku were being crushed by a malevolent derision. Katsuki was the only one to speak, but their stares all said the same thing as him:

**“What can someone like you even do?”**

To this, he had no answer. He looked down, cowed into silence.

And yet, Midoriya Izuku’s resolve did not even waver for more than a second.

ML

A few hours later found the students packing up to go home. Izuku was in the process of putting away his notebook, but had paused to check his phone. _Oh!_ he thought, his face brightening, _That incident from this morning is all over the news! I’ll have to check it out on the way…_ He reached out to pick up his book, only for it to be snatched up off his desk.

“Hold on, Deku.” It was Bakugou, the notebook hanging from the fingers of one hand. His eyes were narrowed at his classmate in distaste. “I still have a score to settle with you.” He held out the book for a pair of his hangers on to look at.

“‘Hero Analysis for the Future, No. 13,’” read one boy incredulously, his fingers elongating unnaturally, “Pfhah! Jeez, this guy just can’t take a hint, can he? And thirteen?! What the hell, there’s a limit to being a fan of heroes, ya know!”

Izuku’s eyes widened and he reached out, pleading, “G-give it back!”

Bakugou’s only answer was, without even changing his expression, to clap his hands together on the notebook, a loud *bang* and a blast of light and heat scorching it in an instant. Then he nonchalantly tossed it out the window.

“GAH!” The green-haired boy ran to window to watch the smoking book fall. “Th-that’s too mean…”

“You know,” said the blond boy coolly, “They always get stories about the top heroes from their younger days.” His gaze sharpened. “‘He was the only one from his dead-end middle school to get into Yuuei Academy.’ That’s how my story’s gonna start. There’s no room in there for anyone else; I’m a perfectionist, ya see.”

 _S-so petty,_ was the thought that went through both Izuku’s head and that of Bakugou’s lackey.

Then Bakugou smiled and clapped a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Izuku froze, eyes fixing on that hand as trickles of smoke leaked from between the fingers “That being said… _don’t go to Yuuei, you Quirkless fuckup.”_

When the green-haired boy didn’t answer, he smirked and released him, walking away. Izuku remained still, trembling slightly.

“Geez, at least try and say something back,” sighed the boy with Bakugou.

Another boy snorted. “He can’t. Even though he’s a third-year now, he still can’t face reality.”

Izuku clenched his fists, but remained silent.

Just as he reached the door, Bakugou stopped, brow furrowed as if something occurred to him. “Hm…now that I think about it, there is one method that could work. Hey, Deku! If you wanna be a hero so bad, here’s what you do…” he turned to leer at his victim, his expression twisted with malevolence, _“Pray with all your might to be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a leap of faith off the school roof!”_

Izuku whirled around, his teeth bared in a grimace of anger-

A firecracker of small sparks burst around Bakugou’s fingers. “Got something to say?”

He stayed where he was.

ML

Izuku trudged along the side of the school building, his eyes downcast with bitterness. “Moron!” he muttered under his breath, “If I really jumped, you’d be guilty of instigating a suicide! Then you’d never become a hero!”

A light splashing drew his attention to a small koi pond, with the fish in question nibbling at a particularly soggy, burnt rectangle. “...That’s not fish food,” he said quietly, extracting it from the water, “It’s my notebook, you idiots.” He pried it open, trying to see if he could salvage any of the notes. Miraculously, they seemed unharmed by the abuse the pages had been put through. “...Idiots,” he repeated.

*Clatter*

Something slipped from in between the pages and fell to the ground. Izuku blinked, broken from his dark thoughts by the sound of plastic on asphalt. “Huh?” he looked around, then checked under his notebook. Lying at his feet was a red card. “Where did that come from?” he wondered aloud, picking it up and turning it over.

Moisture beaded the plastic surface, though that was a minor concern compared to its design. The majority of the card was colored a bright red, but the top left corner was black, the edges ragged as if the red had been worn away. Across the bottom, in large, black, English letters in a blocky, also worn font was the word PSYREN, the R turned backwards. Dominating the right half was a mysterious symbol: a curved, hooked line that looked almost like a closed eye, with a vertical spike extending from above and below it. Six more spikes, radiated out from the bottom at different angles, though they were shorter. The outer spikes led to another pair of slanted lines, bringing to mind a simplistic pair of wings.

“What is this?” Izuku asked himself, tracing a pair of notches carved into the edge, “Could it be…a phone card? For a pay phone?” The boy knew that the public phones could take special cards. Once, his mother had shown him an old card she’d found, with the same notches. “Did someone lose this?” he pondered, turning it over in his hand, “Is it a custom card? It’s a pretty unique design…and what’s this word supposed to be? P-S-Y…Aaaah, how’s that pronounced?” he groaned to himself, scratching his head agitatedly, “And what should I even do with this? Actually how the heck did it get in my journal? Even if it was dropped in the fish-pond, it would’ve sunk to the bottom, but my notebook was floating…”

As he muttered to himself, he wandered away from the school, leaving through the front gate. He could pick apart the mysteries of the strange card on the way home.

Some time later during his walk, Izuku glanced up, stopping as he realized there was a payphone right next to him on the sidewalk. “Eh? Have I gone that far already?” he asked out loud, looking around. He gave the phone a speculative eye, then looked at the card. “Hm…maybe if I use the card, I could get in touch with whoever lost it?” he pondered, “Or maybe I could call the police to tell them it’s missing…right?”

But even before his own reasoning solidified in his head and left his mouth, Izuku found himself feeding the red and black card into the appropriate slot on the payphone. “Ah-!” he gasped, trying to pull back, but the machine took over and the card vanished. “Oh man…” he sighed, “I hope that was the right thing to do…”

Suddenly, the phone rang, making him jump. “What the-? I haven’t even put any numbers in yet!” Nevertheless, he picked up the receiver. “Um, h-hello? Th-this is-”

“Greetings!” chirped an artificial-sounding voice, “Con-nec-tion Established! You have reached the PSYREN immigration office!”

“…Eh?” Izuku blinked in bewilderment at the phone in his hand, “An automated answer?”

“We will now commence the immigration examination. Please press 1 to answer yes, 2 for no.”

The boy blanched. “E-eh?! W-wait, that’s not anything that I’m interested in-!”

Later, when he thought back to that moment, Izuku would wonder why he hadn’t simply hung up.

“Question 1: Are you a Japanese person older than twelve years?”

“Huh? That’s a strange one to start out with- *beep* -Ah. I answered…”

“Question 2: Are you worried about the future of your country?”

Izuku frowned. _Worried? Who could be worried with All Might looking out for us?_ He dialed 2.

“Question 3: Do you have a Quirk?”

He winced. 2.

“Question 4: Have you ever felt an oppressive presence around a strange Quirk user?”

…1.

“Question 5: Are you currently feeling ill?”

He blinked. “No, of course not…” He pressed 2 again.

And so it continued, with the questions becoming stranger and stranger by the moment.

“Question 12: Do you always talk and mumble to yourself?”

“Question 24: Do you have close friends?”

“Question 30: Have you ever blown anything up?”

“Question 31: Have you ever had boiling water poured on your face?”

Izuku felt the hairs prickling in his scalp as the automated questioner continued asking those bizarre question in the same calm voice. Nevertheless, he answered them one at a time with a yes or a no.

“Question 60: Are you looking forward to going to high school?”

  1. Before, Izuku might have been confused at how specific that question was, but the strangeness of the prior ones distracted him.



“Question 61: Have you thought a lot about what you want to do with your life?”

1.

“Question 62: You hate your nickname.”

He froze, a chill crawling down his back. _That…what did it just say?_

Indeed, he hated the mocking nickname Kacchan had given him years ago. _Deku._ Taken from the kanji in his given name, it literally meant ‘useless person.’

_There wasn’t any question about nicknames before!_

Slowly, he pressed 1.

“Question 63: You never knew your father.”

1.

“You bottle up feelings of resentment towards your mother, for those words she never said to you when you came back from the doctor.”

Izuku started shivering. “This…why is it…it’s not even asking anything anymore!”

“Yes or no?”

“N-no! Of course not! E-even if it wasn’t what I…” He quickly hit the 2.

“Deep down, you have your doubts about your own conviction. You know that just smarts can’t cut it in the world of pro heroes.”

There was a clatter as the receiver dangled limply from its cord. Izuku had leaped away from the pay phone, looking wildly around. “W-who’s there?!” he cried, checking for any sign of movement, “Th-this isn’t funny!”

But there was no one around. The green-haired boy was completely alone on the street.

Shaking, sweating profusely, he returned to the phone and picked it back up.

“Where the hell did you go?!” Only for the cool female voice to screech angrily at him. “Get back here, you little shit! You think this thing is easy for me either?! I needed someone useful, but it just _had_ to be someone like you to find that damn card! If you’re gonna puss out from some personal questions, then fuck off and let someone better take over!”

Izuku flinched, shocked by the sudden change in tone. But then, before he could stop himself, he clenched his free fist. “I don’t know who you are,” he said, his voice coming out awkwardly shrill, “And I don’t understand what you’re talking about…but if you need someone, then I’ll do my best! Even if I’m just a useless ‘Deku!’ Even if I’m Quirkless! I don’t care what you think of me, so just keep asking your questions!”

Silence reigned over the street as those frustrated, heated words spilled from his mouth. For a moment, the boy worried that he’d gone too far and offended the mysterious person on the other end of the line.

Then…

“...You know that smarts aren’t enough. Yes or no?” The woman’s voice was back to its artificial tone.

Izuku closed his eyes. “...Yes,” he whispered, “I know.” He reached out to dial 1.

But the voice spoke up again before he could press the button. “Final Question: Do you want to save the world?”

He blinked. “...What?” he asked. Of all the questions he’d thought he’d be subjected to, that was not one of them.

And then a new voice issued from the receiver. Another woman, her voice faintly muffled by static. “Please…I’m sorry, whoever you are, but please… _help us.”_

An old video flashed through his mind. Footage of the debut of a hero who had saved hundreds of lives with an undaunted smile.

Slowly, shakily, but surely, that same grin appeared on Izuku’s face. “Alright!” And without hesitation, he hit the 1 button and hung up.

ML

AN: And thus began the crossover that no one thought to ask for. Well, technically I guess it’s more a fusion fic, what with the things that would require Nemesis Q to exist in the Boku no Hero universe…

Not much more to say here, so I’ll just end off with the usual: if you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment.

North South out.


	2. The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku's journey begins in a place that is both familiar and strange

AN: No need to let it sit. Let’s get to the good part.

Disclaimer: I own none of the properties associated with either Boku no Hero Academia or PSYREN.

“Speech”  
Text  
 _Thoughts_  
 _Empowered Thoughts_  
 **Super Mode**  
 **Special Move/Ability**

Chapter 2: The Call

“Even though I said that, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Izuku muttered to himself. After hanging up the phone, the young boy had resumed his journey homeward. The payphone had spat the strange card back out at him, so he’d pocketed it. _I just wanted to learn what that thing was, but now I’ve got even more questions,_ he thought despairingly, _Who was that woman? Who was that at the end? What did they mean by saving the world? Why were all of those questions…_ His hand tightened on the strap of his backpack, _So personal?_

He felt shaken, like he’d just gotten a glimpse into some dark, secret world.

_ “Please…help us!” _

_ “I will!” _

“But how can I help?” he pondered, walking under a bridge, “I don’t even know where they are. That person said something in the beginning about an immigration exam, but…where even is that place? Psyren? That doesn’t sound like any country or city I’ve heard of…”

Izuku’s brow furrowed and, scratching his chin, he began rambling to himself, as was his habit. 

As he thought, buried in his pocket, the phone card began to change. The hooked, curved line of the mysterious symbol slowly opened up, revealing a gray sclera and a simple, black iris.

*Riiiiiing!*

Izuku jumped in surprise as the ringing of a phone cut through his thoughts. He looked around, trying to figure out where the call was coming from; it was faint, and he was all alone, but he was sure that it was just loud enough that anyone could hear it. Not even a ‘somebody get that phone!’ was uttered. _That’s not my ringtone…_

The ringing came again. Was it louder now?

Frowning, he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, just to see if the call was actually meant for him. His breath caught and a chilled sweat broke out on his forehead as he beheld a stylized eye staring back at him from the phone’s screen.

_*Riiiiiiing!*_

Yes, it was definitely louder this time. The green-haired boy gulped, finger hovering over the ‘pick up’ button. Then the phone rang again, even louder, making him flinch and hit the button accidentally. “Ah-” he panicked briefly, but quickly held the phone to his ear, “Er…hello?”

There was only silence on the other end. Nevertheless, Izuku felt a strange sensation; it was like a thick coat of air and static electricity was wrapped around him, muffling his hearing and making his vision blur. Then he blinked and it was gone. With a click, the person on the other end of the call hung up.

He shook himself. “So weird,” he murmured, glancing around. Then he looked at the time. “Ah! I gotta get home already! Mom might wonder where I’ve been…”

As he ran off, he never thought to look behind him; if he had, he would have received a nasty shock.

Where just a few minutes ago, there had been a bridge he’d walked under, now there was only a pile of rubble blocking the road.

[Meanwhile]

Under that bridge, tendrils of slime oozed through a manhole in the road. They quickly coalesced into a vaguely humanoid figure, a pair of bulbous eyes flicking this way and that. **“Shit! Gotta get away, need to find an invisibility cloak,”** the creature hissed to himself in a watery voice, jogging away from where he had emerged on slimy legs, **“Let’s see, let’s see…huh? Where the hell is everyone?! Damn it, not even a single person?! This is the worst…of all the busybody heroes to show up, why’d it have to be him?!”**

“Why, you ask?”

With a loud bang, the manhole cover he’d come through shot into the air. The sludge-like villain froze, turning to stare in horror as a man climbed up out of the sewer.

He was a hulking brute of a man, with powerful, almost comically large muscles straining the white T-shirt he wore. His blond hair was styled into two absurdly long locks, which rose over his head like a pair of ears. His face was harshly shadowed, but his smile showed prominently; it was a wide grin that was undaunted by the sludgy monstrosity across from him, but gleamed with the promise of pure _justice._

“Because I was there!” boomed All Might.

 **“Sh-shit!”** yelped the sludge villain, whipping out a long arm of sludge and slinging it at the most famous hero.

The muscular man’s smile didn’t so much as waver as he ducked neatly under the attack. Then he sprang forward, crossing the distance between him and the villain within seconds, fist cocked back for a punch. **“TEXAS SMASH!”**

ML

“Well, that takes care of that,” said the Symbol of Peace, nodding decisively. After splattering the criminal’s strange matter all over the road, the hero had emptied out some soda bottles (Sadly ruining his appetite in the process, but oh well) with which to store him. “You just sit there quietly and think about what you did,” he said, patting one of the bottles, which he’d stuffed into the pockets of his cargo pants, “Preferably in a jail cell.”

With a shudder, the man’s muscular form began to shrink. Arms shriveled up, his back bent, strong chin growing fragile and pointy, his winning smile turning pained, Toshinori Yagi groaned tiredly as his two long strands of hair flopped over his face. He reached into another pocket and pulled out a phone, dialing 119. “Hello? Could I speak to Detective Tsukauchi, please? Yes, of course.”

He waited a few minutes, setting out towards the police station at a slow walk.

“Tsukauchi Naomasa speaking.”

Toshinori smiled. “It’s me. Just wanted to let you know that I caught that sludge-Quirk thief from earlier. I’m bringing him to the station for lock-up, so could you get a place ready for him?”

There was a chuckle. “Heh, as expected of All Might-san. How’d you catch him?”

“I blew him away and then stuffed him in a couple of soda bottles!” was his answer, with a hearty laugh…until his breath caught. The resulting coughing fit sprayed the ground with blood, but was over quickly.

“Oi, oi, take it easy, Toshinori-san!” groaned the man on the other line, “You haven’t overworked yourself, have you?”

Yagi wiped his mouth off with a ragged sigh. “Not to worry. I still have enough time left to appear as All Might at the station. And please be careful about the names you throw around, _Thank You Very Much!”_ The last phrase was uttered in near-perfect English.

“You think I’m that careless? Nobody’s listening to me right now. Apparently the Drifters just got called away again.”

The skeletal man frowned, his sunken eyes contemplative. “...I see. Has there been anything on that front?”

“Afraid not. Whatever Quirk is causing them to disappear isn’t something we can track. We still haven’t gotten any testimony from the ones that return.”

Toshinori’s spindly fingers curled into a fist. “Those poor people…what on earth could make them all keep silent…?”

ML

Midoriya Izuku stood stock still, a sense of numb horror and confusion filling him from head to toe.

The apartment building in which he lived with his mother was a modest place, unremarkable in any way, but it was home.

 _Why…?_ he asked himself distantly, staring at the wreckage of the building that had once stood at his home address, _Why is my house gone?! W-was it an earthquake? A bomb?! Oh god…_ He couldn’t move, either forward or back, but as he looked around, he realized that something was very, _very_ wrong.

The streets were far more cracked than he remembered, the walls separating the buildings from the roads worn and faded. More than a few houses looked positively ransacked, gutted from the inside and practically dead.

 _What do I do?_ he wondered distantly, trembling. His face was pale and sweaty, his wide eyes even wider than normal. Unbidden, the pages of his notebook came to mind. _What would they do?_

“I need to g-get out of here…” he said finally, stumbling as his legs finally moved. He backed away, still staring at his destroyed home, then turned and ran.

Growing up, Izuku had been taught that if something ever happened to his home and he couldn’t find his mom, he should run somewhere safe. _Where can I go? It can’t be too far; the streets might not be safe, out in the open!_ He wracked his brain furiously. _What places nearby can I hide in?!_

_“Alright! The Bakugou Katsuki Hero group will go into enemy territory! Let’s go crush those villains!”_

Izuku paused, brow creasing slightly as the memory drifted through his mind. “That place…” he muttered, slowing down, “Maybe…yeah, that place is close by. I can go there, hide out, then call the police or something!” So thinking, he nodded in satisfaction and changed course.

ML

The chain-link fence was rusted through in places and dusty. The signs were likewise faded away with age, but he still remembered them proclaiming the area of forest beyond as off-limits.

Izuku also remembered following Kacchan and his group of friends into that forest, where they would go on adventures, exploring the streams and wildlife within. _This place really has changed, huh?_ He shivered, rubbing his arms as he walked through the opening in the fence. _I’ll walk until I reach the river,_ he told himself, _Then I’ll call. I need to find out what’s going on…_

A few minutes later, he reached a clearing among the trees, overlooking a small river that ran through a wide (albeit shallow) valley. An old, rotted tree-trunk bridged the two sides of the valley, and the young boy remembered crossing it with Bakugou and his crew. It was so long ago that things changed on that day. The day when Kacchan had turned from petty, offhanded insults to full-on spiteful cruelty towards young Izuku.

But that recollection was inconsequential against the bizarre sight that greeted the young boy’s eyes.

Kneeling in the dried-up river, leaning its head against that same decayed log of wood, was a wiry figure. From what he could see, it wore only a tattered pair of shorts and its limbs bulged with corded muscle. Its skin was pitch black, not a shade that could be found on a normal human. At least, not without a mutation-type Quirk.

“Um…h-hello?” Izuku called out tentatively, “Are you okay? C-could you tell me what’s going-?”

The person’s head snapped up and he choked off his question with a squeak of fright. The black flesh stopped abruptly above the jawline, exposing a slimy-looking brain. The jaw itself didn’t look that much better, all jagged and sharp teeth, drooling and steaming. A pair of oddly shaped eyeballs grew directly out of the exposed gray-matter, fixed in a permanent glare. Those eyes focused on the young boy immediately.

“W-what…?” whispered Izuku, “What is this?” There was no human intelligence in those eyes. There wasn’t anything. But, as the seconds crawled by, the creature’s hands began to curl, fingers clenching and unclenching. Sacks of flesh began to swell all along its body, especially its muscular, lanky arms, while it growled at him.

He took a step back.

It snarled, lifting its hands over its head, then _roared,_ a sound of pure, inhuman rage. ***GYYAAAAAAAAH!***

Izuku turned and ran. _I made a huge mistake!_ he thought desperately, sprinting as hard as he could through the trees, _What is that thing?!_

Back at the clearing, the creature glared at the spot where its prey had stood. Snarling, it grabbed at the old, rotted log, bulbous growths along its knuckles quivering and contracting.

_*BOOM!*_

The damp wood detonated violently, an explosion of heat and smoke shattering it to pieces in an instant.

 ***GrrruuaaaAAAAAAARGH!*** howled the monster, leaping up onto the higher bank and giving chase.

PsyHe

Midoriya Inko glanced at the clock, biting her lip. “He sure is taking his time,” she murmured to herself.

The middle-aged woman was seated in her living room, holding her cell phone loosely as she fidgeted worriedly. She knew full well that her son wasn’t the type to get up to mischief in his spare time, but… “He would’ve called by now, right…? But, maybe he’s hanging out with friends and just forgot the time.”

She thought back, remembering the children Izuku had always hung around when he was young. A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled the energetic cheer that always adorned his freckled face. _Let’s see…he was always close with Mitsuki’s boy. Maybe I could just call her and see if he’s over with them. That should be fine…oh, but I haven’t called in a long time! I hope she doesn’t mind…_ With a long, rambling train of thought similar to her son’s, she came to a decision and started dialing.

It didn’t take long for her to get an answer. “Hello? Bakugou residence. Bakugou Mitsuki speaking.”

“H-hello, Mitsuki-san,” she greeted carefully, “This is Midoriya Inko. Sorry to bother-”

“Ah! Inko-chan!” The brusque, slightly husky female voice on the other end brightened up considerably, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it! How are ya doing?”

She fidgeted, biting her lip. “I’ve...been alright. But, actually, I’m calling about Izuku…I wanted to know if he and Katsuki-kun were over at your house.”

“Feh,” spat the other woman derisively, “Not likely. Katsuki doesn’t talk about Izuku-kun that much, an’ what he _does_ say…well, it’s not good.”

Inko sighed. “I see. It was a long time ago, after all…”

There was a moment of silence. “What’s wrong, Inko-chan?” asked Mitsuki, her tone more serious.

“Eh- ah, no! There’s nothing _wrong!”_ the heavyset woman protested hastily, “I-I guess I’m just feeling a bit paranoid, but…Izuku would normally be home by now. He hasn’t even called to say that he would be late, like normal. I-it’s probably just me being silly though, right?”

“...Yeah, probably,” her old friend agreed slowly, “Izuku-kun was always a good kid; he knows to stay out of trouble. He probably just got distracted and is feeling guilty that he can’t get away to call you up. He’ll be home soon, just you wait.”

Unbidden, Inko crossed her arms, hugging herself to stop the shaking that had started up. “Of…of course,” she agreed, “You’re right. I’ll just-just wait for Izuku to return.”

Mitsuki chuckled. “Just be sure to give him a talking-to when he does for making you worry, yeah?”

“Eh? Th-there’s no need for that! Anyone can lose track of time!”

“Heeh~?” she drawled skeptically, though with a note of amusement, “And what kind of activity would make him forget to call his dear mother?”

ML

Izuku scrambled through the trees, his breathing and heartbeat loud and rough in his ears. Behind him, he could feel the ominous, constant rumbling and roaring of that…that _monster._ _What is that thing?!_ he wondered, panicked, _What kind of Quirk could produce something that angry?!_ His foot caught a tree root and he stumbled terribly, arms flailing, but managed to stay upright. _Ah! That was too close,_ he thought, _If I fall here, there’s no telling what’ll happen! There’s absolutely no way I can fight that thing, whatever it is!_

A series of sharp bangs and retorts punctuated the thought, along with the crashing of felled trees. ***GRROAAAAH!***

The fence at the entrance to the forest came into view. Izuku dashed for it, arms and legs pumping madly. _Without these trees in the way, I’ll be able to run faster. Damn it, what the hell is going on!?”_

Before he could ponder further, there came the sound of shattering wood, and he felt something huge barreling towards him. Izuku yelped, throwing himself to the ground as the _thing_ flew over him and rolled over. The boy scrambled about, changing course to avoid it as it swiped out with its lanky arms. The beast sailed over hit the ground rolling and similarly writhed about to reorient itself, buying him precious seconds as the edge of the trees came into view.

He sprinted harder than he’d ever had before, leaping over more roots and keeping himself upright. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small gap in the fence. Taking a chance, he juked to his right and dove through the gap. The beast leapt after him and crashed into the fence, the rusted metal bending drastically.

 _Alright, I got away!_ thought Izuku, his heart pounding in his chest, lungs burning, _But it’ll probably break through! Gotta lose him, maybe in the streets-!_

***BOOM!***

Izuku came to a stop as the fence burst, an explosion bursting out and shattering the links. **“Gruuuuu…!”** growled the monster, stalking through the dust that’d been kicked up, eyes almost glowing as it glared hatefully at him.

 _Explosions…but nothing too big, otherwise it would’ve tried to…_ the boy gulped as his mind briefly conjured up a gruesome image of himself getting caught up in a blast like that.

Strange sacs of lighter-colored flesh began to swell along the thing’s lanky arms and shoulders.

 _It’s not running at me now, so as long as I can keep the distance,_ thought Izuku, turning to run again, _I can probably get away-_

A jet of something streaked past him, cutting up the asphalt beside him. Before he could even freeze up from terror, the whole line _exploded,_ and he was momentarily weightless. Izuku’s whole world spun as pain wracked his shoulder and thigh, before he hit the ground hard, rolling slightly. 

_What…was that?_ he asked himself dazedly. He pulled himself up, wincing as his lungs throbbed, his breathing ragged. _Was that…?_

He looked around, spying the monster holding its wrist out towards him. It growled in satisfaction, some sort of liquid dripping off its arm.

_Some sort of high pressure stream? So it’s got close and long range…_

Izuku stood up, holding onto his burning shoulder, his school uniform now torn to shreds along his right side. _When it exploded earlier, the force of that probably would’ve killed me up close. But its long-ranged attack hit right next to me!_

The beast rolled its shoulders, a gurgling sound coming from its sacs as they swelled slightly.

_And it has to refill! Which means that the best chance to get away from it is-!_

It suddenly swung its arm, blasting out a stream of fluid in a horizontal slice. Without even thinking, Izuku ducked underneath it, hearing it splash against a wall behind him before detonating with a ***CRACK-BOOM!***

_Right after it fires!_

Turning, Izuku sprinted away, darting between lamp-posts, mailboxes and trash cans as he ran for the intersection. Sweat was pouring down his face and his legs fell like they were about to fall off, but he kept running. If he could just turn the corner, then…!

“What’s going on?!”

A figure landed in front of him, and he almost stumbled with surprise, stopping just short of running into them. Looking up, panting for breath, his eyes widened as he saw an older woman standing in front of him. She wore a skin-tight suit, mostly gray and black around her torso and shoulders, with pale pink under her arms and on her chest. A pair of bracelets floated around each of her wrists, and her neck was guarded by a large metal collar. A rounded pink helmet obscured her eyes, with a curved visor covering the upper part of her face, flanked by a pair of black, finned ear-pieces.

“A Hero?” gasped Izuku, before shaking himself and looking over his shoulder. “P-please, you have to help me! I don’t know who or what that is, but-

The creature roared, throwing up its long arms, and fired off a particularly large blast of fluid directly at Deku. The older woman darted around him, throwing out a hand with a shout. The glob of liquid, which had been speeding towards them, suddenly slowed to a stop, undulating in midair almost as if confused for a moment.

 **“Re-Entry!”** cried the heroine, spreading her fingers. With that, the liquid shot back towards the black monster, splashing into its face.

It gave a screech of shock, swiping angrily at itself, before with a ***CRACK-BOOM!*** it exploded, knocking the thing to the floor.

“We need to get going before it gets back up,” said the woman, turning to him, “Will you be alright if I carry you?”

“E-eh? Ah, it’s fine…” he mumbled, before he was scooped up into a pair of toned, strong arms. _This is like All Might! Who is she? Is she a new Hero? But more importantly, what is all of this!?_

“Hang on tight!” She told him, crouching. Then, with a “Hup!” she leaped up into the sky. As the wind rushed past, making him shut his eyes, he heard her murmur, **“Moon Walk!”**

With his eyes closed, all he could really focus on was the sensation of them climbing higher and higher, before gently starting to fall.

“It’s alright,” said the heroine gently, holding him tightly, “I won’t let you fall.”

He blushed, trying _not_ to focus on how warm her body was as she held him aloft, nor how her tight costume was on her curvaceous form. “R-right…um, are you a new hero? I don’t think I’ve ever s-seen or heard of you before.”

“Eh? Hm, I guess that I’m not so famous after all, heheh!” chuckled the heroine nervously.

“S-sorry…I’m normally a huge fan of Heroes. Um, when we get down…”

“You want an autograph? Alright,” she agreed, laughing, “Haven’t heard anyone ask for that in a long time!” A moment later, they touched down lightly, Izuku barely even feeling it. Opening his eyes, he blushed more brightly at her amused smile. “Ah, right, I should at least name myself! The name’s Uravity! What’s your name, kiddo?”

“M-Midoriya Izuku. Thank you so much, Uravity-san!” Even as he unslung his backpack (miraculously still largely intact apart from some scorch-marks around the edges), Izuku looked around, and felt the blood drain from his face. He was standing in the entranceway of Alderaan Middle, but it was in ruins like the rest of the area, perhaps even more so than his home! Windows were broken, lights were out, and there was a dead silence in the air, the sakura trees withered and bare. “…What in the world happened?”

Uravity’s smile faded slightly. “Well, I had to save you from a Noumu, and then carried you to safety-”

“Not that!” he cried, running a hand through his messy green hair as panic swelled inside him, “This…I just left school an hour ago! How…why is it all destroyed like this? And my home was…I don’t even know where my mom is! And then that thing in the woods… I don’t understand any of this!” Tears welled up in his eyes as he collapsed to his knees. “I just wanna go home!”

There was a moment of silence, before a hand touched his shoulder. “...Midoriya-kun. You said that it was fine an hour ago? What’s changed since then?”

“E-everything! The trees were still alive, and they were even blooming!”

“Please, look at me, Midoriya-kun.”

At her gentle command, Izuku rubbed at his eyes, biting his lip as he turned to gaze desperately at the young woman. “Do…do you know what’s going on?” he asked, hating how his voice trembled.

Keeping her hand reassuringly on his shoulder, though with her pinky finger lifted away, she reached up with her other hand and pulled off her helmet. She gave him a soft smile, her face rounded, eyes large, but calming. “I think I do,” she told him, her face full of honesty. “It’s okay, kid. You’ll be able to go home, I promise.” Then she scowled. “Man, you’re really young…what’s she thinkin’ at a time like this?”

Izuku blinked as a Kansai accent briefly slipped into her muttering. “Th-thank you, Uravity-san…” He rubbed some more at his face. “Ugh…c-c’mon, how can I be a hero if I c-cry over something so minor…?”

“You wanna be a hero, Midoriya-kun?” asked Uravity, raising an eyebrow, before grinning, “Hey, don’t worry about it! It’s totally normal to be confused in a situation like this!” She ruffled his hair, making him sputter. “And don’ you worry about running away earlier, yeah? You’re a middle schooler, right? You haven’t even started training, an’ Noumu like that scare the shi...er, the pants offa’ lotsa pros!”

Izuku bit his lip. “E-even so…” He thought back to the day he’d been diagnosed, and his mother’s tearful words. “Can I really become a Hero, if I don’t have a Quirk?”

The heroine’s eyes widened. “You’re Quirkless? A kid like you? W-wow, I didn’t even know that still happened. Um…” Now she was the one looking uncomfortable. “Listen. I probably don’t hafta tell you that bein’ a Hero is super dangerous, right?”

He nodded, looking down.

“But!” Uravity cleared her throat. “There’s...someone I need to bring you to. They’re the one who can send you home.”

“R-really? But, my home was…”

“It’s- it’s complicated! An’ you might think I’m crazy if I tell ya myself. But, this person…she can give you an opportunity. How bad do ya wanna be a Hero?”

Izuku looked up again, staring her straight in the eye. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do with my life,” he told her resolutely, “I want to save people with a smile, like All Might!”

Uravity smiled, but it was tinged with a hint of bitterness. “Like All Might, huh? I dunno about that, but…I can promise you that you might get a chance at that! If I take you to that person, you might be able to become a Hero, Midoriya-kun!”

Izuku’s eyes widened. Then the tears started flowing again.

“Ah, no, wait, don’t cry!” yelped the woman, waving her hands frantically, “Oh no, oh gosh, wh-what’d I say?!”

“I…!” he sobbed, grabbing at his shirt as he bent double. “I’ve always…I’ve always wanted someone to tell me…!” It felt like the clouds had been blown away, letting the sun shine through unabated. Although he’d always kept up his desire, determined to never give up on it, there had always been that shadow of a doubt in his heart. A part of him that knew, deep down, that it was impossible. But now, a Hero was telling him that there was a chance! He started crying again but this time in happiness, despite the despair surrounding the two.

Uravity knelt by him, her hand on his shoulder as she let him cry. Eventually, when his sobs of joy finally died down, she said, “We should go. The others will probably be waiting.”

Sniffing, Izuku asked hoarsely, “O-others?”

Putting her helmet back on, the heroine picked him up once more. “You got a strange phone-call before ending up here, right, Midoriya-kun?”

Thinking back, his eyes widened as he remembered the strange ringing, along with the staticy feeling that had come over him when he’d picked up. “Yeah! Yeah, I did! But how do you…?”

“You’re not the first one to get Called like that,” sighed Uravity, her tone tinged with more than a little annoyance, “There are others, along with the person who called you. C’mon, I’ll take you to them, and then you can go home. **Moon Walk!”**

She leaped into the air again, sailing gracefully over dozens of buildings.

ML

Moments later, she touched down lightly in front of the police station, setting the boy on his feet once more. “C’mon. They’re inside.”

Nodding nervously, Izuku opened the door and stepped through. After all the bleak devastation he’d seen in the city, he was both slightly surprised and intensely relieved to see activity inside.

Three officers were seated at various desks, working on computers or talking on the phone. One of them, a man with a grey-faced dog head, looked up as they entered. “Uravity-san. It’s good to see you-woof. And who is this that you’ve brought with you?”

 _…Woof?_ thought Izuku, blinking.

“Thanks, Chief Kenji,” sighed the woman, patting the boy on the back reassuringly, “I found him running around in the old abandoned residential district near the woods. He was being chased by the Blasting Noumu.”

The police chief’s hackles lifted slightly. “A Noumu…good grief, that’s too close to the city. And the Blasting Noumu to boot…” he looked down at Izuku, giving a canine smile. “You did well to run from it, son. That Noumu is one of the nastier monsters running around-woof.”

“Noumu…?” asked the boy, frowning in confusion, “Uravity-san mentioned that. What exactly is a Noumu? And, why is my neighborhood abandoned?”

Kenji’s eyebrows rose as he looked at the Hero, who nodded and told him, “Midoriya-kun is a Drifter. He told me that he was walking home from school when he received a strange phone call.”

“That explains things,” sighed the dog-headed man, reaching up to knead his forehead, “The other two arrived a few minutes ago, along with Shinka-san.”

“Is _she_ here too?” asked the Hero pointedly, her face darkening for the first time since Deku had seen her, “‘Cause I got some words for her…”

“Uravity-san, we don’t need her terrorized right now-”

“She called a young kid here and almost got him blown up! If I hadn’t been doin’ a check-!”

“But you were, woof,” said Kenji firmly, “Tokkyou-san does not do what she does out of malice, you know that.”

Izuku raised his hand. “Um…could someone please explain?” he asked meekly.

Uravity scratched the back of her neck guiltily, while the police chief woofed and cleared his throat. “Awhoomf. Of course. You said that your name was Midoriya, correct? If you will follow me…”

“Ah, wait!” said the boy, remembering something. Pulling off his backpack, he pulled out his notebook and opened it to a blank page. “C-could you sign, Uravity-san?”

The Hero stared down at him for a moment, before giggling. “Oh yeah, I promised, didn’t I? Ah, Chief, do you…?”

Chuckling, the chief handed over a pen, and she scrawled in the book, taking up both pages with a bubbly font (with Katakana to let him know how to pronounce it). Underneath, she also wrote, Safe travels, Midoriya-kun!

Izuku was practically bouncing with giddiness as he took the book back, beaming widely. Then, stowing it, he turned to follow Kenji.

“Uravity-san probably told you already, but you’re not the only one to have gone through this ordeal,” he explained, “Detective Tsukauchi will probably be better suited to tell you, along with the Tokkyou-san and the others. They’re currently in an unused interrogation room.”

“Interrogation?” asked Izuku, feeling a bit worried for a moment. Was the person he was supposed to meet a criminal?

“Not to worry, she’s harmless. However, she’s extremely nervous and prone to paranoia, so she insists on being in enclosed spaces. It might be a little cramped with all of you, but please bear with it.”

“R-right! If…if it means I can understand what’s happened, then I don’t mind!” he said, nodding.

Chuckling, the dog-headed man, led him deeper into the building, towards a black door. He knocked for a moment. “Tsukauchi-san, I’ve brought the new Drifter.”

Izuku heard a muffled voice answering, and the door opened. A man in a trench-coat stood in the frame, looking at him with concerned, tired eyes. “Oh…oh damn, you’re pretty young,” he mumbled, before clearing his throat, “Right, sorry. Tsukauchi Naomasa.” He held out a broad, sturdy hand, which Deku shook quickly. “I’ll take it from here, chief. Come in, er…”

“Midoriya Izuku! N-nice to meet you…” said the green-haired boy, bowing his head as he was led inside.

As the door slammed shut behind him, Izuku took a moment to look around the room. There was a large table in the middle, with several chairs set around it, already occupied. An older woman, with streaks of gray in her brown hair, sat impatiently, wearing a white coat and holding an unlit cigarette. Beside her was a sleepy-looking, long-faced man with deep blue hair, wearing a rumpled suit.

Sitting across from them, humming and kicking her feet, was a young girl with black hair, tied up in two spiky tufts. She turned to peer curiously at him, her eyes actually sparkling. Next to her was yet another woman. She sat huddled up in her chair, with her legs folded up, her blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, wearing a faded black and green dress. As she looked up, Izuku felt a chill running up his spine as he saw that her face was marked with the same pattern as the phone card he’d picked up that afternoon.

“Hi!” chirped the youngest girl, beaming at him.

“H-hi…” he replied, smiling despite himself. She seemed to be the only person here who didn’t look exhausted.

“Oh, a new guy,” murmured the long-faced man, “The name’s Matsuda. Nice to meet you, but also my condolences I guess.”

“Midoriya Izuku…”

Tsukauchi cleared his throat, making the woman in the corner flinch. “Right. So, I’m gonna just take it from the top, for Midoriya-kun’s sake.”

Matsuda and the older woman sighed, but nodded, reaching into their pockets.

“To start with,” began the detective, “Even before you received the phone call that brought you here, you found a strange card, did you not?”

Izuku nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull it out. To his surprise, both Matsuda and his companion also pulled out the card.

“It was the same for us,” said the woman, casting a dirty look at the woman in the corner, “These cards just showed up in our lives, and then we got the urge to use ‘em. You took the ‘quiz,’ right?”

“Yes…” said the boy, thinking back, “It was, um…pretty strange.”

“The content of the Quiz itself isn’t important.” He jumped as the marked woman spoke up, her voice hoarse. “It was more important that you heard it.”

“This is Tokkyou Kawasemi,” explained Tsukauchi, “And her Quirk is the reason that you’ve been…summoned.”

“Summoned?” echoed Izuku, looking down at his card.

The detective nodded. “That’s right. There’s no real easy way to say this, but…Tokkyou-san’s Quirk has caused her to pull you into the future.”

His words practically cut Izuku’s feet out from under him. He sank into an empty chair, eyes wide as he processed this. _Why didn’t I realize something like that sooner?_ he thought, thinking back to the school and his apartment, _It wasn’t some sort of silent attack. If I’m in the future, then it could’ve happened a long time ago, from this time’s perspective._

_But hang on, time travel’s supposed to be impossible! No technological field has ever gotten close, and in all the history of Quirks, there’s never been something so powerful as being able to-_

“Midoriya-kun.”

Izuku snapped out of his stupor. “O-oh, sorry, I got lost in my thoughts…please excuse me.”

Tsukauchi sighed. “It’s a lot to take in, I know,” he said, “But that’s the truth of it. You have been pulled from about ten years in the past to our present, or your future, by Tokkyou-san.”

Izuku bit his lip, thinking about all the devastation he’d seen so far, and the monster that had assaulted him. “Something terrible happened, didn’t it? To make things this way.”

“Monsters,” mumbled Kawasemi, gripping her arms and looking down with a haunted expression, “Monsters with more monsters on the leash. Monsters making people forget what it’s like to be human.”

“The short answer is, villains,” said Tsukauchi grimly, “A group known as the League of Villains. They quickly rose to prominence, gathering up society’s outcasts, and joined forces with the remnants of Destro’s Liberation Army. It’s a wonder the entire country wasn’t wiped out in the anarchy that followed. Even to this day, they’re still at large, probably waiting to finish us off.”

Izuku swallowed. If the Blasting Noumu was any indication, this League of Villains must have been impossible to stop without…he blinked. “What about All Might? He could’ve stopped them, couldn’t he?”

Tsukauchi winced, looking away, and Deku felt a wave of ice cascade into his stomach. “All Might…was drastically weakened by the League’s leader. The man who he’d been training to take his place was killed some time before that.”

“Now hold on a second,” interrupted the white-clad woman, her eyes narrowing, “That’s not what you told us last time.”

“It isn’t?” he asked, frowning.

Matsuda nodded. “Yeah, you told us that he was still alive, but fighting a losing battle alone.” He looked at Kawasemi. “How did things change so fast?”

The marked woman said nothing, but the way her eyes shifted towards Izuku made him feel uncomfortable.

“I…” Izuku swallowed, trying to think past the knowledge that his childhood idol was dead, “I don’t…I mean, I understand how and why all this happened now. But, I don’t really understand what I’m supposed to be able to do about, well, a-any of it! I’m…” he looked down with some shame, “I’m Quirkless…”

“Quirkless, huh?” said the older woman, chuckling, “Well, who would’ve thought?”

“A third one?” asked Kawasemi, her eyes widening, “Is this fate…?”

Tsukauchi looked similarly surprised. “That’s…” Then he cleared his throat. “We’ll get to that in a moment. I understand that you’re apprehensive about your chances, Midoriya-kun, but as you might have been told, it is possible to send you back to your time, where you can then change this one.”

Kawasemi nodded. “My power lets me feel the ripples you make,” she told him, “I may cast out and pull you in blindly, but each time, the future changes. I don’t remember what has changed, only that it has. Your arrival in particular has created waves.”

“And more to the point,” continued Tsukauchi, “We have a way to help you make changes on your end.” He waved a hand to indicate the young girl, who beamed proudly. “Yaoyorozu Shinka, another person with a powerful Quirk.”

“Yuuuup~!” boasted the child, “I can make your powers stronger! An’ it’s peri- perna…um, what’s the word for when it lasts forever?”

“Permanent?” supplied Izuku, smiling despite himself.

“Yeah, that!”

“Wow! That’s so cool!” he praised, “But…how does that help me if I’m Quirkless?”

The older woman chuckled. “Yeah, well, so were we. Shinka-chan’s Quirk works differently on a Quirkless person.”

Izuku looked at her, confused. Then he remembered what Uravity had told him.

_“You might get the chance to become a Hero!”_

He smiled slowly. “I see…so that’s it. So...what’s going to happen?”

“Shinka-chan will use her Quirk on you. Then we have another person who can do the reverse of Tokkyou-san’s power, to send you back to your own time. As for what you can do to change the future-”

“It’s alright,” Izuku interrupted him, smiling, “I know what I’m going to do. If Shinka-chan is going to give me power…then I’m going to use that power to apply for Yuuei Academy, and become a Hero!” He looked at the woman who had called him to the future. “Would that change anything, Kawasemi-san?”

She blinked at him, licking her lips idly. “I…have no way to know that, until it happens. But whatever you feel you must do, by all means do it.”

“I will!” Then Izuku turned to Shinka. “Um…s-so, what do you have to do, Shinka-chan?”

The young girl stood up on her chair, holding out her hand with a gap-toothed grin. “Shake!”

“O-oh, okay!” Standing up himself, he gingerly grasped her small, soft hand.

“Okaaaaay~” trilled Shinka, shaking his hand, **“Wake up, Izu-san!”**

For a moment, Izuku felt his hair rising, as his hand glowed where he touched her. Then, there came a powerful jolt that rocketed up his arm and radiated throughout his body, making him jump back with a yelp.

“Eheheee~” giggled the young girl, putting her hands on her hips proudly. “All done!”

ML

“Don’t worry, that’s about the only time you have to do that,” muttered the older woman as they left the room, “But I gotta warn you, there’re gonna be side effects for people like us.”

Izuku gulped. “Side effects?!”

“Oi, Satori-sensei, don’t say it like that,” chided Matsuda, slouching as he trailed at the back, the three Drifters currently exiting the station, “You’ll just scare the kid. Jeez, are you sure you’re a doctor? Your bedside manners are terrible!”

The graying doctor gave an irritable huff. “You’d be mad too if you had to rearrange your patients’ schedules because you’re liable to go missing without warning!”

The man raised his hands. “Hey, it’s not that convenient for me either! My boss is starting to think I’m just skipping work at random!”

Izuku watched the two argue and he couldn’t help but laugh. When the two turned to him, he commented, “You know, I never thought that today could go like this.”

“Like what?” asked Satori, her expression lightening considerably.

He rubbed the back of his head. “All this. Being taken to the future by a phone call, seeing your home destroyed, rescued by a Hero, being told I can be one, and then seeing you acting like this is something normal…it’s a lot, and I’m glad that there’s a chance we can change all of this.”

Both people turned to look at him with astonishment. “...There should be a limit to youthful optimism,” grumbled Satori, even as a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, “It makes me feel old, damnit.”

“O-oh…sorry, then.”

“Don’t be,” chuckled Matsuda, ruffling Izuku’s hair, “The two of us are too old and were Quirkless for too long. We can’t be Heroes, so you’ll just have to be one for us. Think you can do that?”

He beamed, eyes gleaming. “Yes! I can!” Then he paused. “Um, speaking of which, since we were Quirkless, what exactly does Shinka’s Quirk do to us?”

Satori gave a smirk. “We’ll tell you once it manifests. Until then, here.” She handed him a business card, labeled Dr. Satori Kurin. “Our contact info, for when it happens.”

Matsuda handed over his card a bit more formally, using both hands and bowing slightly. “Er, force of habit. I’m just a salaryman, so I don’t get to do this that often,” he commented, laughing self-consciously.

They left the police station, the chief waving to them, and headed down the street. “She should be just around the corner,” commented the blue-haired man, jerking his head.

“Is- is this another person like Kawasemi-san?” asked Izuku.

“No idea,” answered Satori, shrugging, “Whoever she is, only ever interacts with us to send us home. I’ve just learned to not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

A moment later, the three Drifters rounded the corner and came face to face with another young girl. From her height and slim build, she looked to be around Izuku’s age, with long white hair that hung about her, down to her waist and obscuring her face. A medical mask covered up even more, but a short, stubby horn protruded from her right temple.

“Card,” she said, in a flat, muffled voice.

“Yeah, yeah.” Satori was already drawing out her red and black Psyren card, before handing it over.

This new girl took it, her pale hands distinctly bony, especially compared with the baggy jacket she wore. She held it for a moment, turning it over in her hands, before with a flicker, it vanished.

Sighing with relief, the older woman then took out a cell phone. “Finally. Thought this trip would never end. Seeya round, Matsuda, Midoriya-kun.” The phone began to ring, and she immediately answered. “Hello.”

Izuku gave a gasp as she too disappeared, a faint crackling left behind.

“The card will come back to you even if you drop it, by the way,” Matsuda commented, taking out his card next. A number appeared in the black corner. “Once this zeroes out, you’re in the clear.” He handed it over to the girl, and a few moments later, he too was gone, leaving Izuku alone with the stranger.

“U-um…” he stared awkwardly at her. “Nice to meet you?”

A red eye just blinked dully at him from behind her curtain of stark hair. “Card.”

Something told him that he wouldn’t get anything else out of her. “Right. Sorry to keep you waiting, then…” he gave her the card.

His cell phone rang, making him scramble to pull it out. The screen was once again marked with the same stylized eye that had caused this whole incident to begin with. Taking a deep breath, he answered it and put it to his ear. “Hello?”

The world blurred, and the fuzzy feel of static suffused his whole body.

Then everything snapped back into focus, and the girl was gone. The street lights were just starting to flicker on, with the sun starting to set. People were walking the streets, and the buildings were properly lit.

All was well.

Izuku sagged, knees growing weak as he tried not to cry with sheer relief. Uravity had been right. He was back home. And now, he had a real, genuine chance to become a Hero.

But first, he had to check in with his mom.

ML

Inko perked up as she heard the door open. “Izuku? You’re home late are you…” She stopped and saw the worn out look in his eyes. “Honey, what happened? W-why are you so ragged?! What happened to your clothes?!”

Izuku said nothing and just staggered over to her. Before the woman could react, he wrapped his arms around her.

“O-oh…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged him back. “Izuku...are you okay?”

“I…missed you, mom.”

She smiled, squeezing him. “You’re a sweet boy, baby.”

“Right…” He released the hug and stepped back, stumbling as he suddenly felt lightheaded, hot and cold at the same time. “I…I think I need to lie down for a bit…”

Something on his face must have worried her, because she suddenly frowned and put a hand to his forehead. “Yes you should, young man! You’re burning up! I’ll make you some tea, you just get changed and lie down!”

Izuku stumbled over to the couch and collapsed onto it, groaning as he unbuttoned his school shirt. He gazed blankly up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened over the last two hours. The Noumu. The destruction. Uravity and her inspiring words. The strange, off-kilter Tokkyou Kawasemi, Shinka and the mysterious white-haired girl. The future and how bleak it was…how it need to be made better.

…How he might be able to make a difference.

He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize his own issues until his mom screamed. “Izuku!”

“Huh…?”

“Your nose!”

Groggily, he lifted his head, and touched his face. His fingers came away soaked in red. “O-oh…I’m bleeding.” His vision blurred as blood began dripping from his nose. _Is this what they meant by side effects…?_

“D-don’t get up, I’ll get you a wash-cloth!” stammered his mother, hurrying out of the room.

Getting up was the last thing on his mind. His head was swimming, and his body felt unbearably heavy. Maybe he could just lie down for a moment. He was so tired…

“IZUKU!”

But it was too late. He was already drifting off.

ML

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Oof. Three whole years. That’s a long time to get writer’s block. But that’s all in the past now. And now Deku can say the same! The crossover has properly begun, with elements of PSYREN reformatted to fit with Boku no Hero’s setting.
> 
> In case it wasn’t clear, Kawasemi is intended to be the analogue for Nemesis Q. For those unaware, Nemesis Q is the entity who calls people who find Psyren Cards to the future in the manga. Here, Nemesis Q is a Quirk, so to speak.
> 
> And speaking of which, it’s time for some notes!
> 
> Yaoyorozu Shinka  
> Age: 4  
> Quirk: Awakening (Alternate name: Once Upon a Time)  
> By touching someone, Shinka can cause a person’s quirk to undergo a drastic metamorphosis, greatly expanding its capabilities. Of course, this strengthening can only be done once per person. When used on a person without her Quirk, the effects are quite different!
> 
> Uravity  
> Age: 25  
> Quirk: All Fall Down  
> Having been Awakened by Shinka’s Quirk, Uravity has a tremendous amount of control over the force of gravity! Float like the moon, crash like a meteor!
> 
> Tokkyou Kawasemi  
> Age: 38  
> Quirk: Time Fishing (Nemesis Q)  
> By imbuing certain objects with her Quirk, Kawasemi can send them into the past, hoping for someone to find them and end up being drawn into the present! She has no control over who will find them, however, so it all comes down to the luck of the draw. However, she can freely summon copies of herself out of the past, and while she can send them back at will, other people who have been pulled will have to find other ways back.
> 
> ???  
> Age: 16  
> Quirk: Mirror Image  
> Another person who’s been Awakened by Yaoyorozu Shinka. This sad girl has the ability to mimic the powers of others, but in reverse! Quite mysterious. But she is invaluable for Kawasemi’s Psyren Drifters to find their way home.
> 
> The Blasting Noumu  
> Age: ???  
> Quirks  
> 1\. Explosion: This monster secretes sweat that acts similar to nitroglycerine, which can be detonated on command.  
> 2\. Fluid Storage: The Noumu possesses stretchy sacs all over its body, which it can fill with an excess of any of its bodily fluids.  
> 3\. High Pressure: The Noumu can release a high-pressure jet of air or fluids from nozzles on its wrists.
> 
> That’s all for now. I can’t promise it won’t take me a long time to update this again, but I at least know where I’m going with this. As always, if you have a question or comment, please leave a review or send me a PM.
> 
> North South Out.


	3. The Details

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku still does not have a Quirk...but he does have a damn good substitute.

**AN: After a short break, it’s back to this. Not much to say this time around, though I do wish that the last chapter had gotten more reactions. Those of you who gave substantive reviews, thank you kindly. But now, it’s time to press on.**

“Speech”  
Text  
 _Thoughts_  
 _Empowered Thoughts_  
 **Powered Up Form**  
 **Super Moves**

Chapter 3: The Details

Inko sat in the waiting room, hands clasped together and trying desperately not to get up and pace, or burst into tears. Or both. She had rushed her only son to the hospital, who was admitted with mysterious cuts and bruises, along with an intense fever and nosebleed.

The two hours that followed were like torture. Even the day that Doctor Tsubasa had told them her baby boy was Quirkless was less stressful. Or at least, that was how it felt at the moment. _He was out for so long, got banged up and then fell sick…please, don’t let it get any worse…!_

“Midoriya-san?”

She looked up quickly, sniffing and wiping her eyes, as a nurse approached her. “S-sorry, I was just…I’m worried…”

The nurse smiled patiently at her. “Your son is alright, Midoriya-san. You can come and see him now.”

Immediately Inko stood up to follow her. “S-so, it’s not anything…bad?” she asked tremulously.

“It isn’t,” confirmed the nurse, “It was a rather high fever, and the nosebleed was concerning, but once we cooled him down, it stopped very quickly. We also made sure that his cuts wouldn’t become infected; there was no sign that they would, but better safe than sorry.”

“Right, of course…”

“However, when we took a scan of his head to see if there was anything wrong, we encountered…something.”

Inko went pale. “S-s-something?!”

“Nothing bad!” the nurse assured her again, “However, the nature of his condition is very rare. Not many people even know how to even diagnose it. But you're lucky!” She quickly calmed the mother down. “We do have someone who's seen this before and can help your son. I’m gonna see if she’s available.”

Finally, they stopped in front of a door, where Inko could see her son lying in bed on the other side of the window, peacefully asleep. “We had to cool him down, but otherwise, he will be fine. We’d like to keep him overnight for observation, but you are clear to be with him; nothing contagious about him. I will send the doctor to you.”

The older woman nodded. “R-right. I see. Thank you so much…” Bowing to the nurse, she opened the door and entered the room. Seeing as Izuku was sleeping, she didn’t immediately rush to him and sweep him up into another big hug. Instead, she pulled up a chair and sat next to him, taking her son’s hand in her own. “Oh, Izuku…what have you gotten involved in?”

As she watched him sleep, it brought back the years of doubt she put on him and the stress that had developed as a result.

_Izuku, my god. What have you been through? Have you been bullied? Oh my god, what have I done? I’m such a horrible mother to not even see my son’s bullying._

Her musings were cut short as Izuku blinked himself awake. “Ugh...what happened, where…a hospital?”

“IZUKU!” Inko cried, hugging him tightly.

“Ack! M-Mom?!” he yelped.

The tears were already streaming down her face, soaking his hospital gown and blankets. “I-I was so worried!” she wailed, “Your fever was so high and you were bleeding so suddenly, I didn’t know what else to do!”

“Mom, I’m…” The boy paused as he touched his head. “I’m fine. Huh.”

“What do you mean ‘huh?!’” demanded his mother, “I was worried sick about you!”

Izuku cringed. “S-Sorry, it’s just that I remembered not feeling all that well…”

Inko stared at him seriously. “Izuku,” she began, “Where were you yesterday? You came home covered in cuts and bruises, and your uniform was all torn. Did you get beat up? You can tell me, sweetie.”

He opened his mouth, already wondering how he would explain what had happened…

…

He blinked, then jolted, realizing that he’d been sitting still for a moment. “S-sorry, mom, what was that? I lost track of what I was saying…”

She frowned at him, brow creasing with exasperation and more than a little worry. “I asked you what you were doing after school, young man.”

Izuku nodded. “R-Right, right…” Then he frowned as well, falling silent. Then he looked at her again. “What were we talking about again?”

“Izuku what is going on? Tell me!” Inko demanded.

“It’s nothing too bad, Midoriya-san,” sighed a woman’s voice. Both of them turned their attention to the door to see a middle-aged woman with graying hair, one who Izuku recognized immediately.

“E-Eh? Satori-sensei?” he asked.

Inko looked between the doctor and her son. “Izuku? Do you know this person?”

“We met earlier today, actually,” said Dr. Satori, taking a seat on a nearby stool, “Sorry to say, Midoriya-san, but your son has become wrapped up in something particularly troublesome.” She held up a hand even as the mother opened her mouth. “If you try asking us about it, you’ll only get the same result that you just got from Izuku-kun. I myself have already tried to tell the police everything I know about it, but I’m physically incapable of doing so.”

This, of course, did not calm Inko down in the slightest. “What kind of response is that? Is my baby in some sort of cult? TELL ME!”

“No, it’s not a cult,” sighed Satori, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “But I won’t deny that it’s potentially dangerous. It IS possible for Izuku-kun to get out of the situation, but I’m afraid that will come down to time. I myself am involved in… _that,_ along with one other person. We’ve been through it quite a few times already, so we can help your son. And that leads into why you’re here tonight.”

Inko still looked greatly aggravated, both by the lack of answers and the doctor’s frank attitude, but went with the change in subject. “They said that my boy has some sort of…condition, which is rare enough that you’re the only doctor who knows about it.”

Satori shrugged. “Only one in this hospital, maybe. Director Kyudai might know something about the subject, but he’s too busy to be called upon. However, I have more knowledge about the situation itself, on a level that many doctors wouldn’t.” She looked between Izuku and Inko. “Are either of you familiar with the concept of psychics?”

“Like those people on TV who think they can read minds?”

“Those’re mentalists, who are extremely good at reading people’s body language. No, I’m referring to the old concept of having powers that come directly from the brain or mind, like telekinesis.”

Inko raised her hand, “My Quirk is a minor form of that, actually. I can pull small objects towards myself.”

Satori nodded. “There’s a theory in some circles that before Quirks, certain people were born with powers that were less set in stone than a Quirk. A Missing Link between the Quirkless and those who have them.” Then she shrugged. “Of course, modern medicine doesn’t have any real way to determine whether such a connection actually exists. But one thing is for sure: a Quirkless individual CAN develop psychic abilities. And that’s what’s happened to you, Izuku-kun.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he thought back to Yaoyorozu Shinka, and the explanation of her power. Unable to voice his realization aloud, he simply nodded. “I see.”

“How can you tell?” asked Inko, reaching out to take his hand, “I mean, it sounds like it’s almost too good to be true. When Izuku was four, his doctor told us that he would never develop a Quirk.”

“Oh, I’m not denying that diagnosis,” agreed the doctor, “Rather, it’s because he’s Quirkless that he’s developed these powers.”

His mother bit her lip. “But how can you be so sure?” she asked again.

At this, Satori smiled. “Simple: I myself used to be Quirkless.” 

Inko blinked. “U-used to?”

“Yeah. But that was before…what happened to Izuku, happened to be. That’s why I can say, with personal experience, that your son has now become a Psychic. Not to mention, we detected the factor in his brain that shows that he can use those powers. You’ve probably heard that we don’t use all of our brain, yes?”

Izuku nodded. “Right.”

“Well, to be more accurate, we don’t use all of our brain _at once._ There are limiters in place to let parts of our brain rest when not in use,” explained the doctor, leaning back in her seat, “However, when we took a scan of your brain, we saw that the limiter part of your brain had dissolved. It was the same with me.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means that you can now cause every cell in your brain to work in unison, which produces a type of energy referred to as PSI. I’ll refer you to some books that you can find that explain it in more detail. Izuku-kun already has the contact info for the other member of our group; he’ll have more free time to help you practice.”

“But what about school?” Inko asked.

“Your son wants to be a hero right? I see no reason for him to get into Yuuei with practice.”

Inko chewed her lips and turned to Izuku. “You…do still want to go to Yuuei, don’t you?” she asked. She’d always known that with his obsession with All Might, he would accept no less than to go to the hero’s old school. Ever since that day when she’d chosen to apologize rather than openly support his dream, she always held out hope he could live a normal life. But his dream had refused to die; he’d persevered, almost blindly hoping to become a Hero, even without a Quirk.

But now things were different. According to this doctor, her Izuku could now step into the ring with all the other Hero hopefuls.

“Yeah,” said the boy, nodding, thinking along pretty much those exact same lines, “Yeah, I do.”

ML

After Izuku was discharged from the hospital and brought home, Inko immediately hugged him tightly. “My baby, why after everything, do you still want to be a hero?”

“Mom…what I saw...I need to be a hero! No, I want to be one more than ever,” he answered, looking her in the eye. “And that means putting myself in danger again. But I need to train this power; I’m starting out with it so much later than anyone else. I don’t want to just be another hero, mom…I want to be like All Might.”

His mother smiled sadly. “A Hero who saves everyone with a smile. I remember.” She hugged him again. “Back then, I said the wrong thing, didn’t I? I’m sorry, Izuku…but if you’re going to aim for Yuuei, then I’ll help you out in any way I can.”

Izuku squeezed her back, tears welling up in his eyes. He wanted so badly to explain to her what was going on, but every time he tried, his head would go blank and no words would leave his mouth. _Thanks, mom. I won’t betray your trust._ Backing away, he reached into his pocket. “Oh, right, the other guy gave me his number.” Pulling out the business card Matsuda had given him, he handed it to her. “He said his name was Matsuda.”

Inko nodded pensively, giving the card a look. “Hm. Very official looking. You want me to call him, sweetie? I could set up a session for him if you think he can help you with your…your power.”

He smiled and nodded, a balloon of excitement swelling inside him at the words _‘your power.’_ It was almost impossible to believe, even now! “Um, I’ll also try and pick up those books Satori-sensei recommended from the library.”

“Just try not to forget your normal studying, dear. You still need grades to get into Yuuei.”

“Right!”

“Now, clean yourself up, I’ll make some Katsudon.”

ML

Coming back to school after his illness was awkward. There were still the same bullies making fun of his supposed Quirklessness, but because of his recent illness, they surprisingly kept their mocking to a minimum, at least for the moment. What was different was that some of the people who’d used to make fun of him had had a change of heart, as this illness according to rumors nearly killed him. _If they only knew the truth,_ Izuku thought.

The moment his first day back at school had ended, he’d headed straight for the library to check out the books that Satori had recommended for him. Psychics: the Missing Link. A History of Psychic Activity. A Study on the Properties of PSI.

The titles seemed rather dry, but it was better than nothing. He tackled the history first, just to see where this had all started.

It seemed that even a while before the Glowing Baby, there had often been rumors or stories about people possessing powers. Most of them seemed to fall under what was today known as Emission-type Quirks. Like Satori had said, this had been discovered to be linked to a missing part of the human brain. The brain, now lacking a limiter, had become able to produce mysterious energy known as PSI. It was theorized that the Quirk Factor, the parts of the body that made up modern-day Quirks, produced a more stable form of PSI.

As for what PSI actually _was,_ as far as the books detailed, it was a special form of energy that was produced when every part of the brain worked at once towards a given task. Thus, the natural limiter that kept the brain operating mostly in shifts had to be absent for this energy to be produced.

When Quirks had begun to appear, those who’d taken the idea of PSI seriously had attempted to see whether or not the two were related. Apparently, results had been inconclusive; short of invasive brain surgery and unethical human experimentation, there was no way to purposefully grant a person Psychic powers. It was nearly impossible to tell when someone had them, as opposed to simply possessing a Quirk. As it was, in the present there were only a handful of officially recognized Psychics left in the entire world.

 _If Psychics came from Quirkless people, that makes sense,_ thought Izuku, _Only 20% of the population is without a Quirk these days, and most of those people are really old. Shinka-chan’s power would probably revolutionize that whole field of research...but I guess she doesn’t really exist yet._

Setting aside the history book, he went into the studies book. This was one that discussed observed PSI abilities. It seemed that PSI use had become categorized in three ways. First, there was Burst-type, which shared similarities with the now-standard Emitter-type Quirk. A Psychic using Burst would use their PSI to affect the world around them in some way, such as by telekinesis.

Trance-type PSI had very little in common with any of the usual Quirk classifications; it seemed to deal directly with the minds of others, or the user’s own, allowing them to influence others’ senses or to grant themselves new ones.

Finally, there was Rise-type. This was considered closest to Transformation or most augmenting Emitters, in that the user could use PSI to increase their own body’s capabilities, ranging from increased strength to boosting one’s mundane senses or healing factor.

_This is way too much. There’s no way I could do all these things, right? I mean, I just literally just got these. If Psychic powers are a precursor to Quirks, there’s gotta be a reason why they didn’t stay that way.”_

_If I’m gonna learn, I’m gonna need to train with someone who knows. Mom has the card for Matsuda-san, maybe he can explain it…_

ML

“Hello, there!” exclaimed the office-worker, giving a short bow. Inko had indeed called the number that Izuku had given her, and after a round of introductions, had asked him to come over that weekend. “So, I’m Matsuda. Nice to meet you in person, Midoriya-san.”

“Welcome,” replied the woman, regarding the thin, blue-haired young man, “I assume Izuku met you in the same place as Satori-sensei?”

He nodded, straightening up. “That’s right. I mean, I’ve only met the kid briefly. But if you want details on the whole thing…”

Inko sighed. “No, Satori-sensei already explained that it’s impossible for you to explain it.”

“Not to you, at least,” elaborated Matsuda, rubbing the back of his neck even as he took off his shoes, “Only people who’ve…er, shared the same experience can talk about it openly. It’s irritating, but there ain’t much I can do about it.”

Nodding with a furrowed brow, Inko led him into the living room, where she’d set up a table. Izuku was there to meet them, his eyes brightening in recognition. “Thanks for taking the time to come here, Matsuda-san!” he told him, “I’ve been reading the books Satori-sensei gave me, but I wanted to ask you some things…”

“I can only imagine,” chuckled the man, taking a seat at the table “Please, ask away, I’ll answer as best as I can.”

“Would you like some tea?” asked Inko.

“Oh yes, please. Actually, a cup of coffee would be good as well; it’ll come in handy as a demonstration.”

As Inko started up the water, puzzling over the odd instruction, Izuku got right to it. “What does PSI do to me? How do I figure out what I can do? You know how to use it yourself, right? And why did you not try to become a hero?” He paused, blushing. “S-sorry, guess I should let you answer…”

The man snorted. “Chatty sort, ain’tcha? Anyway, let’s start at the beginning. You read the books Satori told you about, yeah? Well, you can use PSI for pretty much all those things.” He smirked at Deku’s widening eyes. “Yeah, all three categories can be learned and trained. Bit different from how Quirks are limited to a core thing.”

“Core? I don’t understand.”

“Hm…” Matsuda rubbed his chin. “It’s pretty simple. All Quirks have one thing that they do. I mean, sure, you can strengthen it with training, but it’s still just one power. You can’t do something fundamentally different from it. PSI, on the other hand, does whatever you want it to, given enough effort.”

“So when it says it removes the limiters on the human body...does that mean Quirk factors too?

“It removes the limiters on the brain, not the body,” he contradicted, “God knows Satori lemme know that when I asked… But there _is_ a theory that I’ve heard about. A Quirk Singularity, I think it’s called; a point where Quirks will evolve to the point that no one can control them anymore.” He shrugged. “I remember reading one scientist saying something like that, back around the 4th generation of Quirk users. Given what we’ve seen…I dunno. Might be some real weight to it. But that’s all Quirk stuff; us Psychics don’t need to worry about that.”

Izuku bit his lip. “Right…At the same time, I’m really behind on everyone else. I don’t even know how I’d use…PSI.”

Just then, Inko set down a pair of cups of tea on the table, along with a cup of coffee. “Here you go, Matsuda-san…oh, did you want milk?”

“Yeah, I would,” said the salaryman, smiling, “But I’ll pour it myself. Actually, that’s part of how I’m gonna demonstrate PSI to ya, Midoriya-kun.”

Matsuda slowly poured the milk into his tea. Once satisfied, he raised his hand over and pointed down into it. To his audience’s shock, the liquid began to ripple without any outside input, the color swirling murkily. As they watched, the milk began to condense, gathering towards the center under his fingertip, until finally, the tea parted and he lifted his hand. A ball of undulating milk rose from the cup, floating in the air. Then, he directed it over to the coffee, before a small stream drained the milk-ball, pouring itself neatly into the other beverage.

Looking up at Izuku, he smirked. “Like that. Now you try.”

Izuku looked down at his tea. _So he says, but…can it really be that easy?_ He mimicked Matsuda’s actions, pouring in the milk and pointing his finger at it. _Mixing two liquids just causes the newer one to spread out until it’s impossible to tell._ He watched clouds of white swirling about in the tea. _Come on…! If Matsuda-san says I can do, it, then there must be a way to separate them again!_

In his head, he felt something responding to his commands, akin to an electrical current. Then, a mystifying sensation began to flow through him, reaching down over his hands and into the tea, suffusing it. As it did so, he suddenly became aware of the liquid, in a way that he never would have thought possible. As the PSI, for what else could it be, poured into the tea, he could feel where it and the milk differentiated. Concentrating, the PSI converged on the milk, gathering it together and drawing it to the surface.

Watching her son concentrate for the last few minutes, Inko looked to Matsuda. “Is it really that simple?”

“More or less, yeah,” replied the salaryman, shrugging, “It’s hard to tell for sure, but it seems like each Psychic tends to have different amounts of talent in the three categories. Satori-san is pretty good at Rise-PSI, and this telekinetic stuff comes pretty easy to me. Even if he specializes in something like Trance, Satori reckons it’s easiest to get the feel for PSI by practicing with Burst.” He smiled, noticing how the surface of the boy’s tea began to grow pale. “Once you can figure out how to draw it out, it’s just that easy. After that, you just gotta practice.”

When Izuku finally opened his eyes, letting out a breath of exertion, a wobbly leaf had formed out of milk, contrasting the dark tea. “I…I did it!” Tears welled up in his eyes. “I really do have powers now…! I can’t believe it!”

Weeks Later

Spare change floated over his hand as Izuku cast out with his mind. All around him on the street were the usual swirl of people’s streams of consciousness, occasionally forming a coherent word or image. Of course, he did his absolute best to not follow up on any of them and delve deeper; reading a person’s mind without their permission would be too arrogant.

As it turned out, much like Matsuda had mentioned, while Izuku had picked up on using both Burst and Rise-type PSI, his real talent lay in the truly mental-focused Trance PSI. It had started out one day with him trying to broadcast a thought to his mother, just to see if he could, followed by her responding as if she’d heard it. Astonished by his success, he then tried contacting his two fellow Psychics, who congratulated him, then told him to be very careful when it came to reading minds.

_“People are used to having their thoughts being totally private. If you start voicing what they’re thinking, you’re asking for a lot of resentment and aggression.”_

_But on the other hand, if a person is in trouble or feeling bad,_ he thought to himself, his eyes glowing as he watched the colored, textured auras swirling from people’s heads, _I can find and help them…somehow._

A dark, thin tendril drifted by him.

He spun around, eyes wide. _What was that?!_ Eyes narrowing, he thought about the aura he’d just seen, if only for a second. As the PSI in his brain worked, focusing on his eyes, the auras of other people dropped away, until finally, he saw it. This aura was twisted, stiff, full of muddled colors that were being crushed together into something ugly.

He reached out with his own mind, seeing a tendril full of shades of green, and grabbed hold of it. _Who are you? What can I do to help you?_

Suddenly, the indistinct representation of a mind snapped into clarity, and he felt the presence of another person. She was just a ways down the road, sitting on a bench idly kicking her legs. He cautiously approached her, severing his connection to her as he did so. “Hey, uh…are you okay?”

The girl looked up at him, blinking and smiling pleasantly. Her narrow eyes blinked curiously. “Hm? Oh yeah, I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

Before his eyes, her aura roiled and spiked, completely at odds with her cheerful words. He could practically feel it, like rusty metal rubbing against his skin. “A-are you sure? You seemed a bit-”

Her eyes flickered for a moment. “I’m fine. Thanks. You don’t have to worry about anything.” She turned back to watch the road. “I’m just a normal, everyday girl.” 

Once again, the aura of her thoughts rebelled against her words, a discordant, ragged jangle that flared up like a wound, particularly at the word ‘normal.’

“O-of course you are!” he agreed quickly, “I never said you weren’t!” He could tell that for whatever reason, the concept of being seen as normal was something of a sticking point with her.

She side-eyed him, her pleasant smile slipping. “...What do you want?”

Izuku paused, biting his lip. He didn’t want to be dishonest, but he also didn’t want to say the wrong thing. “I want…I want to know what’s hurting you.”

This time she turned to look at him again, eyes widening, eyebrows raised. Then she giggled. “H-hurting? Pfft, jeez, where’d ya get that idea-?”

“What’s your name?”

“Eh?” She faltered. “...Toga.”

He smiled. “Nice to meet you, Toga-san. I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“Mm, sure, nice ta meetcha,” she replied flippantly, “So Izuku-kun-” He sputtered at her casual honorific, “What makes you think I’m ‘hurting?’ You got a mind-reading Quirk or something?”

Izuku hesitated. “...Yes,” he admitted honestly, “Or something. I didn’t see anything you were thinking of, don’t worry! But, um…it feels like you’ve got a lot of burdens on you, and I wanted to help so I just…approached you without thinking. Sorry.”

Toga stared at him, her expression unreadable. “So you just…saw something about me and wanted to help? How?”

“...I don’t know,” he said, sighing, “I mean, I don’t know you at all, but…I could be totally wrong, but you seem like you’re unhappier than you let on. So, I dunno, I wanna help make you happier.”

After a moment, she looked away, pulling up her legs, crossing them for modesty, and hid the lower half of her face in her knees. “Nothing good’ll come of it.”

“What?”

“The stuff that makes me happy is bad, evil stuff.”

Izuku swallowed, a cold sweat starting to break out. “What do you mean?”

There was a long silence. Toga’s aura became momentarily turbulent, but differently from before, before settling down. “For as long as I can remember, I thought blood was one of the most beautiful things ever.”

He blinked. “Blood?” He sat down tentatively next to her, prompting a brief glance from her.

“Mm. I found this injured, dead bird once. I thought it was just the cutest thing ever. My mom and dad freaked out, told me it was really bad.”

“That’s…”

“Are you reading my mind?” she asked suddenly.

Izuku blinked. “Huh? No, of course not, that’d be totally rude!”

Toga just watched him for a moment. “...A little after that, I discovered that if I tasted someone’s blood, I could turn into them for a bit. A neighbor’s kid got cut, and it just smelled really nice, so I licked it, and then…” She squeezed her legs tighter. “He moved away later, and my parents were super mad. They called me a demon child, and that I was born wrong. So…I try to act like I wasn’t.”

Not knowing what to say, Izuku watched her. He knew that he couldn’t just say ‘you’re wrong’ to her. After all, he was just a stranger to her. He couldn’t say ‘I understand.’ While he’d always been told that he couldn’t be a hero, that was a different beast altogether. Tentatively, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “I…know how it feels to be like an outcast. I...didn’t have a Quirk for a long time. You see…I’ve been training this…mental Quirk…you can say mind reading is part of it, but I haven’t read your thoughts!” Izuku assured her at her pout. “As for liking blood…well, blood usually means that someone got hurt. I guess your parents were afraid that you might start hurting people. I kinda get that…when I first got told that I didn’t have a Quirk, I didn’t want to give up on being a hero. My mom gave up on that, back then. I kept on trying, but…there was always this voice in the back of my head that agreed with everyone else. That I was just denying reality by trying to do something that was impossible for me.” Then he smiled. “But then, I got a chance to turn things around and change things. If there’s a way that I could help you change things, then…I want to.”

Toga bowed her head and was silent. However, he could see that her aura was growing turbulent again, the murky colors growing ever so slightly more distinct. Finally, she tilted her head back and let out a sigh. “You know that I like something that everyone hates, but you’re not even telling me to stop liking it?” Her head lolled as she directed her narrow, crafty-looking eyes at him. “You’re super weird, Izuku-kun.”

“Heh,” chuckled Izuku, rubbing at his hair, “Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry.”

“It’s a good weird.”

He blinked, looking at her. Her expression hadn’t changed.

“It’s kinda weird that makes me feel like it’s okay that I’m…not normal.” She fell silent again. “Hey, Izuku-kun. You said you wanna be a hero, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I’ve been training up my Quirk so that I can apply to Yuuei,” he told her.

She hummed. “Yuuei, huh? You’re weird, but I guess even a weirdo like you would want to apply there.”

“Well, sure. Yuuei is where the greatest heroes came from. All Might went there, so…”

Toga began to smile. It was a wide grin, showing off lots of teeth, and Izuku was disquieted to see that her canines were quite long. “Greatest heroes, huh? Hey, hey, Izuku-kun~ Do you think if a demon child like me applied there, I could become good?”

“Well...if you applied yourself I’m sure you can find your way to be a hero! I mean there’s a whole list of ‘Heroes who look like Villains,’ who are all still respected!”

“Pfft, really?” She giggled, pulling out her phone, “Lemme see that!”

Izuku chuckled. “Well, there’s Gang Orca, and also Ectoplasm. Point is, all that matters is what you do with your Quirk. A Hero helps people. Oh! There’s even Vlad King! He’s not on that list, but his Quirk uses blood like yours too!”

Her toothy grin shrank somewhat, but her expression remained happy. “Like me…” Then she glanced at him. “Hey, where do you do your training?” 

“Huh? Oh, I live around here,” he said, pulling up a map on his phone, “My powers have a bunch of different uses, and I’ll be training a different one tomorrow after school. I’m gonna be at the beach for a bit.”

“Hmm~ Okay. I’ll be there.”

“Eh? Wait, what do you mean?”

EQ

Izuku was running along the beach. Satori had also mentioned one other possible application of PSI was to help improve the efficiency of his breathing and muscle strength. The best way to test this was to run, while slowly forcing his PSI to infuse his lungs, to increase how much oxygen he kept in. Rather than the quarter most people hold in, he could hold about a third. But as it was a new experience, he had trouble keeping it up consistently.

On top of improving his breathing, he had used it to improve his speed and durability. Satori-san had warned him over exertion would lead to possible nosebleeds, so right now he was focused on using PSI to increase his power output through his body in short bursts, concentrating on his legs. He could feel them burning as he carefully drew lines down the limbs in his mind’s eye, creating glowing circuits of PSI that fed the fibers in addition to the oxygen he breathed in. He could feel the wind whipping past him as he sprinted across the sand. He could feel his feet sinking into the dunes, slowing him down slightly with the unstable, but his legs propelled him far enough to ignore. Reaching his designated point, he then pivoted and jogged back the other way.

He stopped about halfway down the beach in an attempt to catch his breath. So focused was he on catching his breath he didn't sense someone approaching him.

A pair of hands slipped around his face and covered his eyes. “Heya, Izuku-kun!”

He yelped, blushing, his power faltering as he flailed his way out of the hold. “Ack! Oh, uh…hi, Toga-san.”

The blonde girl in question gave him one of her wide, toothy grins, hands behind her back. “I told you I was gonna be here! So what are we doing?”

“Um, well,” he began, rubbing the back of his head, “I was trying to see if I can use my abilities to increase my strength and speed. I mean, I already know that I can, but I’m trying to keep ahold of it.”

“Wow! So you can control your blood?”

“Um…well…” He paused. “I…probably could?”

“Heeh~ So you can read minds and do that too? Your Quirk’s all over the place!”

Izuku smiled. “I guess so. But it’s still a long way to go from being perfected.

“Do you mind if I watch?” Toga asked. 

Shrugging, he told her, “If you want. It might be boring.”

Toga shrugged. “I’ve got nowhere to be. You're my only friend right now.”

Izuku then realized, he had no friends his age. Sure, Satori-sensei and Matsuda-san could be friends, but they were too busy. “Yeah. I guess we only have each other right now.” Before he could continue, he felt something dripping from his nose. “Ugh, I overdid it,” he groaned, wiping at his nose, his hand coming away tinged with scarlet, “Gonna need to take a break for a bit…”

The girl’s narrow eyes locked onto his bloodstained hand. “Hmm…that’s a shame,” she mumbled. She licked her lips. “‘Ey, lemme clean that up for you~”

“Eh? Wait, what’re you…? Ack!”

Toga suddenly grabbed his wrist and brought it to her face. He shivered as a warm, wet tongue dragged across the blood he’d shed. “Mmmm~ Tastes good~”

Izuku smiled awkwardly. “Um…thanks? But that came from my nose, you know…”

The girl’s face was flushed for a moment, her wide smile content in a way that made him feel embarrassed. “This tastes good Izuku-kun!” The psychic watched, completely nonplussed, as a pale sludge suddenly emerged from her head, washing over her face, before morphing into a replica of his.

“Um, Toga? I don’t think I have the legs for that skirt.”

The Izuku copy looked down and chuckled, giving him chills when his own voice emerged from her throat. “Well, I don’t turn into a guy all that often. Or anyone really. You know, I could see you in a skirt, but then I’d have to turn my clothes and well…they don’t change back afterward.”

Izuku sputtered at the implications, blushing and covering his face. “S-s-so anyway!” he squeaked, “How long does that last?”

His doppelganger shrugged. “Maybe a minute or two? When I drink blood, it gives me a tank of energy, and when it runs out, I can’t transform anymore. But I can store it up by not changing.”

The boy paused, blush fading as he began to consider that information. “What happens if you drink multiple people’s blood, then?”

She cocked her head. “I dunno. Never done it before.” A few moments later, Izuku watched with some disquiet as his own face melted away, leaving Toga as herself once more. “You really weren’t weirded out.”

“I mean, I was…but it’s okay. Maybe we can figure out what your limits are.”

Toga beamed and sat down on the beach to watch the psychic train some more. As she observed, Izuku clenched his fists and set his jaw. Lines of green light began to trace across his face, centering on his eyes. **“Sense Rise…Eyes.”**

Suddenly, his vision sharpened, making him grunt as his eyes ache slightly, gazing out over the ocean. With his enhanced eyesight, he could see the shipping lanes that were beyond the horizon. He could also see some of the ocean-based heroes out on patrol in their ships. Looking down, without even crouching, he could easily count the grains of sand on the beach. Then, turning to say something to Toga, he paused as his enhanced vision took her in. The late afternoon sun was setting behind them yet his enhanced senses could see the sun reflecting off her, mixing with the chaotic energy of Toga’s aura. The colors were still dark and murky, but they had cleared just a little bit. It gave her a maddening, yet exotic look and he had to look away to hide his blush.

There was something about her that made him want to do his best. Was it to set an example? Or maybe just the fact that she was pretty cute?

ML

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And that’ll end it for now. Took a little bit, but at least it wasn’t three years! On that note, Happy 2020! Also, my birthday was a few days ago, so happy birthday to me.
> 
> A few notes: The details on how PSI is used, as well as the ‘drawing milk out of coffee/tea’ thing, is lifted directly from PSYREN’s PSI system, though its origins are mixed in with Boku no Hero canon. Trance is definitely what would fit Deku the most, what with his analytical nature, but of course, he won’t be limited to it. Meanwhile, Satori is a Rise specialist, while Matsuda is talented with Burst. As for why they don’t become heroes with their power, they consider themselves too old to start training for that sort of career, plus Satori already has her obligations as a doctor.
> 
> Not to mention, we are introduced to everyone’s cute little psycho, Toga Himiko. However, this encounter takes place before she finally snapped, so she’s only just rather repressed at the moment. Deku being the way he is, he would want to do his best to help her. Not to mention I’m a sucker for redemption.
> 
> Profiles!
> 
> Midoriya Inko  
> Age: 42  
> Quirk: Attract. She can telekinetically draw small objects towards her. Helpful for anything out of reach.
> 
> Satori Kurin  
> Age: 40  
> Quirk: None  
> PSI: Rise. As a doctor, her knowledge of anatomy gives her a good idea of how the parts of the human body can be enhanced. In addition, she can use Trance to analyze other people’s bodies.
> 
> Matsuda Yuuji  
> Age: 35  
> Quirk: None  
> PSI: Burst. With lots to do in the office, telekinesis and teleportation are a good way to save energy. He just has to make sure his supervisor isn’t watching…
> 
> Toga Himiko  
> Age: 14  
> Quirk: Transform. By ingesting a person’s blood, she obtains a quantity of energy that allows her to shapeshift into that person for a time. Her voice also changes, and her clothes can be copied, but they are destroyed afterwards in that case.
> 
> As always, if you have any questions or comments, be sure to leave a comment.
> 
> North South out.


	4. A Light That Cannot be Extinguished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku sees the consequences his actions might have on the future...or rather, his absence.

“Speech”   
Text   
_ Thoughts _   
_ Telepathy _   
**Super Mode**   
**Technique/Super Moves**

Chapter 4: A Light that Cannot Be Extinguished

Izuku shook himself out of his stupor. “Ah, I’m so sorry, Tsukauchi-san!” he said, bowing his head quickly, “I drifted off for a second…”

“No, it’s alright,” sighed the detective, “I’m used to that reaction by now.” He looked down at the paperwork. “Is that everything?”

The green-haired PSI user nodded. Evidently, the fact people kept disappearing and reappearing after receiving a mysterious phone call had caught the police’s interest. While it was impossible for the ‘Drifters’ to explain where it was that they were taken or what they did while they were gone, as long as they could keep track of who was disappearing, it would make it easier to help them when they eventually reappeared.

“You’re the third Quirkless person this has happened to,” noted Tsukauchi, looking over the updated list, “And the third to then become a Psychic. If it weren’t for the first Drifter, I would think that there was a pattern going on.”

Blinking, Izuku asked, “The first one?”

The detective nodded. “That person has asked us not to disclose their identity, but they were apparently the first person to receive the Call, a little while before Matsuda-san and Satori-sensei. Since then, however, they recently contacted us and told us that he was no longer an active Drifter.

“I-is that so?” Izuku pulled out his phone card, looking down at it. “Matsuda-san showed me this interesting trick,” he explained, putting it to his forehead and concentrating. The ragged patch of black in the lower corner suddenly gained a glowing orange number, 96. “Apparently, every time we get Called, the number goes down by a random amount. I guess that that person’s number must have hit zero…”

Tsukauchi raised his eyebrows. “Really now? That’s good to know, Midoriya-kun.”

“E-eh? Did I say all that out loud? S-sorry, my thoughts run away from me…”

“It’s quite alright,” he assured him, chuckling, “But that detail with the numbers is actually new information.”

Izuku paused, letting the man’s previous words sink in. “That’s strange. I would’ve thought that the others would have told you…they didn’t say that I shouldn’t tell anyone about it either. I mean, the details of that place are impossible for us to explain, so I guess they just assumed that the numbers fell under that umbrella…”

Tsukauchi gave a bemused smile as the boy cast his eyes down and began muttering furiously to himself. “It could be that they forgot,” he pointed out reasonably “I’ll be sure to follow up on this with them myself, as well as seeing what their numbers are currently. You’re free to go, Midoriya-kun.”

“O-oh, right…sorry to have taken up your time,” said the boy politely, bowing again.

“It’s no trouble at all! I’m assigned to this case, plus I’m still a member of the police, so you could say that it’s my job to give you my time,” chuckled the detective.

When the boy finally left, Tsukauchi returned to his office and sat down with a sigh. “Another piece of the puzzle,” he murmured to himself, “Two, in fact.”

The numbers were certainly a welcome bit of information. If Midoriya had been telling the truth (and his Quirk assured him that he had), then it seemed that each Drifter would inevitably be freed from the Calls, whatever those entailed.

The second bit of information was a bit smaller, but Tsukauchi felt that it was even more crucial.

_ “Eh? Ah, Tsukauchi-san! So it’s you!” _

_ “Huh? How…do you know my name, kid?” _

_ “Ah, um…ack, sorry, what was that you asked just now?” _

_ “...Forget it.” _

Somehow, Midoriya had known his name before he’d even introduced himself, and when questioned, had reacted in exactly the same way that other Drifters did when asked about where they disappeared to. When asked if he had used his PSI to read his mind, the boy had truthfully denied it.

_ In other words, he must have somehow met me in person during a Call. I’ve never met him before, but he already knew my name and face, _ thought the detective, rubbing his chin,  _ This is big. Really big. I feel like the answer is right in front of me, but I’m still missing a major piece! _

ML

Izuku gritted as a large metal bar lowered itself carefully into the nearby dumpster. For the past two months or so, he had come out to the trash littered Dagobah beach, as no one went there, in order to practice with his Burst PSI.

While Matsuda had told him that Burst was good for so much more than just telekinesis, the fact was that the boy just couldn’t picture how he was supposed to go about using PSI for other effects. Telekinesis at the very least required a simple mental image: focus on creating a force that could lift and move objects, and there it would go. However, even after a month, while he had no problem shifting one thing at a time no matter its size or weight, moving several things strained his brain and gave him headaches, to the point of making his nose bleed if he pushed it too far. It was like moving more hands than his body possessed.

In addition, he had tested it out on Toga and to his dismay, using the telekinetic PSI could barely ruffle his clothes. Something about her mental aura would cause his own energy to fray and dissolve harmlessly. And it wasn’t like it was flat out impossible either; when he’d mentioned this roadblock to Matsuda, the older man’s response inspired only feelings of frustration in him.

_ Really? That’s pretty strange; Burst PSI should be able to affect people as well as non-living stuff. I don’t wanna sound like a parent, but maybe it’s something to do with your mentality. _

_ My mentality? _

_ Well, PSI is deeply rooted in the mind, you know. It could be that there’s something about the way you think that’s interfering with your abilities. I dunno, I’m not a psychologist. _

As such, Izuku had little choice but to shelve the idea of using telekinesis on people.  _ At the very least, I can use it to shift aside rubble and rescue people that way, _ he thought.

A pair of fingers jabbed him in the ribs. “Stab~!”

He yelped, whipping around and blushing as he came face to grinning face with Toga. “Ungh, don’t do that while I’m concentrating!” he complained, rubbing his side, “If I’d been lifting something, I could’ve dropped it!”

“You gotta keep focusing then, Izu-kun!” she told him cheerily, “Imagine me falling off the bars because I was lost in thought! If you’re doing all that rescue stuff, then you can’t just zone out, right?”

Izuku sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, of course…” She was referring to the fact she had recently joined her school’s gymnastics team, as a way to focus her mind off of her bloodlust. Judging by her aura, he could tell that it was only partly effective, but at least she seemed to genuinely enjoy it. “I just feel so…limited. I finally got a power of my own, but I have no idea how to go about using it. I mean, I know the basics, and those are easy to imagine, but…I’m totally lost on what to do…”

She cocked her head at his downcast look, her near-manic grin fading into a small frown. Her aura swirled and churned, making him glance up. “A-ah, sorry. I guess it sounds like I’m complaining about nothing, since I’m kinda spoiled for choice…”

“It’s okay,” Toga told him honestly, her voice as chipper as ever, “At least you know where to start. You’ll be doing Rise next, right?”

He nodded. While still not as good as his use of Trance, Izuku’s Rise was progressing a lot better than his Burst. Applying it was simple, and he had a better idea of how to use it with more variety, thanks to Satori’s advice.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he began to concentrate again. Lines of fire began to trace down his body and through his limbs, saturating his muscles with heat and power. Thanks to the telepathic pointers he’d gotten from Satori, he knew how best to channel his PSI for Rise. Currently, he could control the explosive output of his muscles, increase the reflexive speed of his joints, the jumping power of his legs and even how to increase the effectiveness of his eyesight, hearing and smell.

Currently, he could hold any of these enhancements for a good fifteen minutes, less if he used more than one at a time.

Opening his eyes again, he blushed and looked away, as Toga had gone into a handstand, which made her shirt drop, revealing her stomach and the outline of her bra. He thanked god that she had taken to wearing shorts under her skirt. “Y-you’ve gotten pretty good at that,” he told her encouragingly.

Toga grinned. “Thanks! My Quirk’s not really flashy or useful like yours, so I figure, why not just train my body?”

“Y-yeah! I mean, lots of Heroes don’t have Quirks that directly help in combat, so they learn martial arts to make up for it!”

“Eh…martial arts doesn’t seem like my kinda thing, though…”

He rubbed the back of his head. “Right…well…”

“Do you want to copy me?” Toga asked suddenly.

Izuku blinked. “Eh?”

“You can use that psychic stuff to enhance your body, so why not use it to copy my agility?”

He opened his mouth to protest that it didn’t work that way…but paused. Could it work that way? “I mean…I haven’t learned how to move like you, Toga-san…”

“Then just read my mind for it!” she stated, shrugging.

“I can’t just do that!” This time he  _ did _ protest. “It’s your mind, it’d be really rude!”

“And I’m inviting you into it, so no it’s not!” Toga retorted. “It may be a little messed up in there, but I know you can do it. You’re smart, Izu-kun.”

He blushed at her nickname. It was true that using Telepathy had almost become second nature for the boy; as long as he knew a person’s name and face, and had caught a glimpse of their mental aura, he could contact them from just about any distance. However, when face to face with someone, he knew with absolute certainty that it would take only a thought to shift merely from communication to a deeper connection.

“C’mon!” said the blonde, a touch of…was it desperation in her voice? “This’ll help you, won’t it? I want to-” She cut herself off, looking away.

Izuku stared at her with a frown. “Are you alri-?”

“I’m fine!” she snapped, rolling out of her handstand into a sitting position, crossing her arms. “Just…just let me do something nice for you.”

Izuku watched the girl, sinking deep into thought.  _ I...guess it wouldn’t hurt to try…I mean she is volunteering. _ Finally, he nodded, and reached out with his mind, connecting to her aura. A tendril of his own green aura reached out and dug into the surface of hers, winding about and intermingling with it.  _ Mind Jack Established… _

Both of them jolted, eyes flying open as their minds touched. The first time Izuku had done this, it had been a confusing jumble of thoughts, reflexes and senses. But now, knowing what to expect, he managed to quickly calm them both down. There was no need to say anything; his thoughts transmitted through loud and clear, as did hers in return. In this state, they could see through each other’s eyes, hear through each other’s ears, and communicate far faster than words could provide. He’d been hesitant to apply his Trance in this way, especially after the confusion of the first contact, but her insistence that he properly develop it trumped his moral discomfort. Even so, as he closed his eyes again and sank deeper into her mind, he tried to be polite and ignore her more private feelings.

Memories of her doing stretches and perform her routines, there was a sense of control in the chaos. As he watched, he began to absorb the motions, sinking into her perspective as she performed, even though he’d never had a lesson in his life. He quickly extracted himself, returning to the normal level of consciousness. Toga cocked her head questioningly, to which he shrugged, looking down at his hands and concentrating.

Once more, PSI traced itself down his limbs, only this time it carried the information that he had just gleaned from her mind. The information settled into the nerves, and he took a step forward. He then took a couple of steps before twisting into a cartwheel. Keeping up the momentum, he began to back flip down down the beach. Each flip got faster and faster down the beach until he landed and raised his hands in the air in victory

“WOW!” Toga cheered, her awe shining through the connection. “You picked it so quickly!”

Izuku blushed, even as her praise brought to mind memories of himself saying similar things to Kacchan…before he quickly suppressed those thoughts. “W-well, it’s only ‘cause you helped me,” he deflected, rubbing the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

She pouted. “C’mon, you can be proud of yourself a little,” she said reproachfully, “I saw that little bit just now; you’re nothing like that dumb pomeranian.”

He had no idea whether to laugh or let out a squawk of fear in case Kacchan somehow heard that. Before he could do either, however…

_ *RIIIIIIIIIIING!* _

He and Himiko both jumped.

“Huh? What was-?”

Izuku’s mind went blank as he simultaneously realized, then forgot what that sound symbolized.

“Ghuh?!” sputtered Toga, the connection suddenly going numb and blank on the other end, “H-hey, Izu-kun what’s-?”

He cut the connection, shaking his head and stumbling. “S-sorry…but I can’t tell you that,” he mumbled, already reaching into his pocket.

_ *RIIIIIIING!* _

Izuku twitched again at the sound, but this time Toga didn’t react, frowning in perplexity as he pulled out his cell phone. “T-Toga-san…we’re gonna have to call it short for today. I need to go away for a bit, but hopefully I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

“Is it that dumb Pomeranian?”

Izuku had to hold back a snicker. “N-no, it’s…I honestly can’t tell you. It seems that even a Wired Jack won’t let me-”

_ *RIIIIIIIIIIIING!* _

He winced as the phone rang louder. “Just…don’t freak out, alright?” He pressed the button to answer. “Hello?”

And then, with a flicker, he was gone.

ML

Deku blinked as his vision blurred over, then snapped into focus. “Alright, back again?” he wondered, glancing around looking for identifiable landmarks. The beach looked much the same, though a lot of the junk piles had shrunk considerably.

Closing his eyes, he recalled a particular face and reached out with his Telepathy.  _ Detective Tsukauchi? This is Midoriya Izuku. I’ve been Called again. _

He waited for a few moments, before the detective replied.  _ Understood. Sit tight, we will send a car for you. Where are you right now? _

_ I’m at Dagobah Beach. I was training with my PSI just a little bit ago. Also, you probably know by now, but there’s probably a new Drifter that got Called. _

_ Roger that! _ The detective acknowledged.  _ We’re on our way! _

Deku sent a feeling of gratitude and cut the connection, sitting down on the aged railing at the parking lot.  _ Well, at least there’s less junk littering the beach now, _ he thought, smiling wryly,  _ Though it probably wasn’t me. _

The fact that he was in the future probably meant that anything he could have done never got the chance to happen.  _ It’d probably be impossible for me to meet my future self like this. Since I keep jumping forward, my future self would probably vanish from this timeline. That means it’s extremely difficult to tell whether or not I’ve changed the future at all. Perhaps just being Called changes the future to begin with. Ah, wait, Kawasemi-san said that last time, didn’t she? But she doesn’t know what changes. That must be maddening, knowing that everything around you is different somehow, but not knowing how… _

By the time a police car came driving into the parking lot, the boy had gotten up and started pacing, muttering furiously to himself. It took a few moments to grab his attention.

Climbing into the back of the cruiser, he saw Tsukauchi in the driver’s seat. “Glad to see you’re alive after all, Midoriya.”

“Has something happened?”

“Not exactly,” the detective muttered, “It’s just that, every time this happens, we have to wait for ten years to see if the Drifters really will appear, or if you were ordinary Missing Persons incidents. It causes a lot of confusion.”

“How many cases are we talking about?”

“At least...10,000 from your year alone. We can only confirm Drifters after they register, and obviously first-timers don’t know to do that. So we have been working hard at finding the new ones.”

Izuku leaned back and sighed. “What…what about my mother?”

The detective sighed. “You’ve been missing for ten years. I don’t think I need to say any more.”

The PSI user watched the worn city streets roll by, his mouth feeling dry. He was right. He didn’t.

ML

Izuku watched the hustle and bustle from his seat at the station, idly lifting a pen telekinetically, while trying to keep his mind simultaneously focused on it and also thinking about other things. If he could use his Burst power without thinking, it would be that much easier to use in a fight. As he did so, he glanced up at the ceiling and wondered what could have changed between when he disappeared the first time and this time. 

_ Apart from training with my powers, I haven’t really done anything significant, have I? I mean, I made friends with Toga-san, but that probably isn’t enough to change anything… _

He grimaced, feeling guilty at inadvertently thinking of his friend as ‘not significant.’  _ Sorry, Toga-san… _

As he wondered, the door opened and Izuku looked up to see Detective Tsukauchi entering, with Satori and Matsuda behind him. Following closely were two new boys, around his age; One had black hair that hung to his ears, with a perpetual grin on his face, wearing a plain black shirt and cargo pants. His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows, which bulged oddly, oddly segmented and cylindrical. The other boy on the other hand was a tall, white-haired young man, wearing a muscle shirt, jeans and a grey mask that covered him from neck to nose. His choice of top was understandable, as not only did he possess six muscular arms, but each side possessed flaps of loose skin to connect them.

“Yo, Midoriya!” greeted Matsuda, “So you’re the first here, huh? Hope we didn’t keep ya waiting too long.”

“I-it’s no trouble!” he quickly replied, standing up and bowing.

Satori sighed. “Alright, let’s get this over with. I’ve got some paperwork to do.”

“Trade you for mine,” Matsuda snorted.

“Not a chance.”

Meanwhile, the two boys observed Izuku approach them. “H-hello… I’m Midoriya Izuku. I’m sure this is insane, trust me, I’ve been there.”

One of the tall man’s arms bent up towards him, showing that unlike the normal front pair, his extra arms actually ended in fleshy stubs. The one being offered shifted for a moment, then morphed into a mouth. “It’s fine. I must admit that I was confused when I got the card and wound up here, but I’m glad that I’m not the only one. My name is Shouji Mezou. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh yeah, same!” laughed the other boy, rubbing the back of his head, “Man, that was a hell of a nasty shock, wasn’t it? Name’s Hanta Sero!”

Izuku nodded. “So, you two have Quirks, then, Shouji-san, Hanta-san?”

“Nn?” Sero quirked an eyebrow. “Well, yeah, of course.” Shouji nodded in agreement.

“R-right, I guess it’s a bit obvious…but, Satori-sensei, Matsuda-san and I were all Quirkless.”

The black-haired boy winced. “Really? Oof, man, that’s rough.”

Shouji’s brow furrowed, however. “You were?”

ML

“...And that’s about the gist of it,” finished Tsukauchi. The Drifters, now five in number, sat around the table in Kawasemi’s interrogation cell, with Shinka propping up her round face on her hands between the two adults.

“Oi, oi…” mumbled Sero, staring around at everyone, “This is seriously crazy! I mean, time travel?”

“It makes sense, however,” interjected Shouji, “When I received the Call, it was like everything around me aged rapidly.” One of his arms lifted, the end morphing into an eyeball that stared pointedly at Kawasemi, making Shinka squeak in surprise. “How were you able to get that card into my room, Tokkyou-san?”

The woman shrugged. “I don’t control where the hooks go. I just cast them out into the past.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you  _ should, _ Tokkyou-san,” sighed Tsukauchi, frowning severely at the marked time-fisher, “This is the second time your power has brought minors into this future. We’re lucky that the Villains didn’t find these two before us, like with Midoriya.”

Izuku shuddered, remembering the twisted, monstrous Noumu.

“So what does all this mean, like how did this happen?” Sero asked.

“The League of Villains-” began Tsukauchi.

But Kawasemi cut across him. “This particular future is one where the five of you disappeared, because I pulled you in.”

“So going back means that we change stuff?” the boy continued. “Er, we  _ can _ go back, right??”

Matsuda chuckled. “Yeah, don’t worry, kid. We’ve been through this whole song and dance several times, there’s a way back.”

“Phew…”

Shouji though looked at Tsukauchi. “We might be able to use the information here in the past. Is there anything you can give us on the organization called the League of Villains? I understand if you don’t want to give that information to a bunch of kids, but…”

“No, this is fine. If we could have stopped them in the past, this future wouldn’t exist,” the detective concurred sighed, standing up. “It’s our failings that have led to us relying on kids like you.” With that, he exited the room.

Sero winced. “Ouch, that’s some heavy stuff, detective…but hey, don’t sweat it! I plan on becoming a Pro Hero at least, so anything you can tell us might end up helping a ton!”

Izuku perked up. “You’re planning on becoming a Hero too? That’s great, Hanta-san! I’m planning on applying at Yuuei as well!”

“Yuuei? Damn, so am I! How ‘bout you, Mezou? Ah, and you can just call me Sero.”

“Likewise, you can just call me Shouji. And yes, I too am planning on joining the Hero Course at Yuuei.”

Sero snickered. “Too bad we can’t use this future stuff to check whether we get in or not, eh?”

Izuku sputtered. “I mean, that’s true, but wouldn’t that be kinda like cheating?” he protested.

“Given that we’ll be working to change this future,” murmured Shouji, “It would at least be nice to have that sort of knowledge to take that bit of uncertainty away.”

“O-oh, I see…that’s a good point.”

“Still high-strung as always, kid,” said Matsuda, smiling, “C’mon, you’ve got powers that twenty percent of the population can even dream of getting, keep your chin up!”

Satori rolled her eyes, but a smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth.

“Still, though,” continued the black-haired youth, sighing, “It’s pretty scary to think that All Might won’t be around forever.”

They all nodded. The Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, seemed from their perspective to be utterly invincible. The idea that that symbol could vanish made Izuku feel cold, especially since they could see for themselves what would result from such an absence.

Shinka seemed notice the somber mood that settled over the group. “Ne, don’t be sad, Izu-nii-chan!” she said, leaning over to pat his hand, “I used my Quirk on you, so you can be strong and fight the things that make you sad!”

Izuku smiled. “Yeah. Thanks so much, Shinka-chan. Your gift has been better than I could ever dream of.”

She beamed. “Hehee~”

A moment later, Tsukauchi re-entered the interrogation room, carrying a series of folders. “I don’t want to overload you with information just yet, so for now, here’s a list of the core members of the League.”

Izuku nodded. “I can go last for looking them over,” he suggested to the others, “That way, I can focus on using Trance to memorize them.”

Sero and Shouji looked somewhat confused, but his fellow Psychics nodded. “Sounds like an undertaking, but I guess if anyone can, it’s you, kid.”

He blushed. “W-well, with all the notes I usually take for Heroes, I should start making some for Villains, right?”

The group began passing the folders among themselves, reading through them. Shinka pouted and complained when they passed her over, but judging by the expressions of the others as they read the files, Izuku guessed that that was a good thing.

Finally, it was his turn. Nodding in thanks, he closed his eyes, slowly spinning up the wheel in his mind’s eye that would cause his brain to start generating PSI, and opened them, ready to record any information he saw.

The first file contained the image of a white-haired young man, covered in what looked like severed hands, which also obscured his face. A separate photo showed said face, with dry skin, chapped lips and a horrid smile.

Shimura Tenko   
Villain Name: Shigaraki Tomura   
Quirk: Decay. Allows him to cause anything he touches with all five fingers to rot and disintegrate. As time has gone on, the scope of this power has extended so that anything connected to what he touches will also disintegrate. The effect can also propagate through his feet.

Tomura is the leader of the League of Villains. He possesses a simple, childish sense of pure evil, and has professed the desire for nothing more than to tear down society as we know it and wreak havoc upon the masses. At first, his personality was akin to a man-child, but as time went on, he became more and more calculating in his schemes. This is suspected to be largely due to his master, [Classified.]

In addition-

However, the rest of the file had been thoroughly redacted. Izuku suspected that if he really wanted to, he could use his powers to see through it, but didn’t want to risk giving himself a headache just yet. As such, he merely moved on to the next entry.

[Redacted] (In Custody)   
Villain name: Kurogiri   
Quirk: Warpgate. Allows Kurogiri to transform into clouds of purple-black fog, which he can use to create portals to any location, so long as he is familiar with it or has its exact coordinates.

Kurogiri was the advisor to Shigaraki Tomura, and one of the founding members of the League of Villains as we know it. Despite a mild manner, he is filled with a cold cruelty and absolute loyalty towards Shigaraki, likely instilled in him by [Classified.]

He was eventually captured and taken into custody by the police in cooperation with Pro Hero Gran Torino (See Incident Report #44076888). Shortly afterwards, it was discovered that Kurogiri himself was a Noumu, perhaps one of the very first ‘High End’ Noumus created by [Classified] and the Doctor. The body used has since been identified as belonging to [Redacted.]

He shivered at the photo provided: a man in a vested suit and tie, with a long metal brace around his neck. The entirety of his head was shrouded in purple fog, with two yellow eyes piercing through. Remembering the Noumu that he had encountered, Izuku almost didn’t want to know what a ‘High End’ Noumu would be like.

The next file bore the image of a broadly-built, muscular person with reddish hair.

Hikiishi Kenji (Deceased)   
Villain name: Magne   
Quirk: Magnetism. She was able to cause people within a 4.5 meter radius to become polarized. Men would become south poles and women would become north poles. Magne could not magnetize herself.

Hikiishi was wanted for nine armed robberies, three murders and twenty nine attempted murders. After aligning herself with the League of Villains for a relatively short time, she was killed in an altercation between the League and the Shie Hassaikai.

A scaly, lizard-like man with a shock of pink hair.

Iguchi Shuichi   
Villain name: Spinner   
Quirk: Gecko. Spinner is capable of performing any feats attributed to geckos, including sticking to walls. It is unknown what other abilities this manifests as, as he does not rely on his Quirk very much.

Spinner is a vocal, devoted follower of the Hero Killer, Stain, and joined the League to further Stain’s will to ‘purge’ society of ‘fake heroes.’

A dark-haired man, covered in patches of what looked like rotted flesh. The photo appeared to have been taken at a distance.

[Redacted]   
Villain name: Dabi   
Quirk: High Flame. Dabi can project blasts of flame hot enough to burn with a blue color, which have proven fatal for many heroes and villains alike. Dabi himself appears to be vulnerable to the heat of his own flames, and cannot blast them out for too long or he may burn himself, judging by his extensive skin-grafts.

Dabi is a follower of Hero Killer Stain’s will, though not as vocal as Spinner, and has professed to not trusting anyone, even the other members of the League of Villains. He is among the most kill-happy of the group, leaving charred corpses in his wake.

_ Note to self: figure out a way to become fireproof, _ Izuku thought to himself, grimacing.

Sako Atsuhiro   
Villain name: Mr. Compress   
Quirk: Compression. He is able to designate a sphere-shaped volume of space and compress it (along with any matter within) into a small marble. Living things are seemingly kept in stasis inside the marbles, so long as they are completely inside the compression range. Sako can also release the effect at any time on command.

Compress seems to carry himself with the mannerisms of a stage magician, and appears to be the most mentally balanced member of the League. His reasons for aligning with them are as yet unknown.

_ That’s…an absurdly useful Quirk! _ he thought to himself, impressed,  _ It’d be super easy to clear away rubble after a collapse! _

Or even to kidnap someone.

Shaking off the morbid thought, he moved to the next file. There were two photos for this one; the first, a man dressed entirely in a tight, black, full-body suit, including a mask that covered his whole head, the top half being light gray. The other was an older, blond man, with a haunted look in his eye and a vertical scar going straight up the middle of his broad forehead.

Bubaigawara Jin (Deceased)   
Villain name: Twice   
Quirk: Double. Twice can create up to two duplicates of any object or person at a time. In order to do so, he must possess sufficiently accurate data of the subject, including measurements and/or contents. People cloned by Twice retain their personalities and Quirk. Anything copied by Twice will become less durable, melting into mud-like sludge upon taking a certain amount of damage. The second copy is even less durable than the first.

Bubaigawara Jin had several misdemeanors even before joining the League, mostly minor and carried out by a gang of thugs. However, an incident caused some sort of psychotic break, leaving him constantly contradicting himself and possessed of a psychosomatic need to cover his face. It is said by [Redacted] that he was the most loyal to the League, simply due to the reason that he felt that they were the only ones who could accept someone as mentally broken as him. During the raid on the Paranormal Liberation Front, [Redacted] offered him the chance to start over, only to be rebuffed, and ended up killing him, though not before one of Twice’s clones managed to kill a Hero.

_ I wonder…in my time, would it not be too late to help him? _ Izuku thought, feeling a swell of sympathy for the man.  _ I mean, Toga-san is alright, even if she is a bit strange… _

The last file, however, brought that thought process crashing to a halt, the blood draining from his face as he stared in horror.

Toga Himiko   
Villain name: none   
Quirk: Transform

_ No…no no no, Toga-san! Please, tell me you didn’t… _

Before joining the league, Toga has been the lead suspect in several deaths by blood loss. She has demonstrated an obsessive love of people who have been beaten and become bloodied, and expresses desire to ‘become’ that person, culminating in her learning their habits and speaking patterns and draining their blood for use with her Quirk, ultimately resulting in their deaths.

“Midoriya?!”

Izuku clamped a hand to his mouth, reeling back from the file.  _ Toga-san…why? Why would you do this? You wanted to be a hero, didn’t you? _ Tears welled up in his eyes.  _ I believed in you! You were a good person…! _

_ “No good’ll come of it. The things that make me happy are evil, bad things…” _

_ “I’ve got nowhere to be. You're my only friend right now.” _

_ “It’s a good weird. The kinda weird that makes me feel like it’s okay to not be normal.” _

He had been her friend, showing her that she didn’t have to think of herself as evil…but then he had disappeared. Now, ten years into a future without him, Izuku could see just what his choices had wrought. He sobbed.  _ I’m sorry, Toga…I’m sorry that you didn’t have anyone else but me. I promise I’ll be better friend!” _

“Midoriya-san? Are you alright?” Shoji asked, his eyes widening in concern

“...This girl,” he pointed to Toga. “Toga Himiko. I know her.”

Tsukauchi’s eyes widened. “What?!”

“I met her, just a few months ago. I don’t think she’d committed any…any murders yet. She was self-conscious about her obsession with blood, and trying to suppress it by acting normal. But I…I talked to her. She was my first friend in years; she was even going to try and become a Hero. I told her that she didn’t need to be evil!”

The group sat in silence. Then, the detective cleared his throat. “Maybe, you were the anchor in this timeline. And your disappearance caused what was left of her sanity and her humanity to break.

Izuku looked down, his tears intensifying.

Tsukauchi winced. “Ah. That probably wasn’t the best way to put it…”

“N-no, you’re right,” mumbled the boy, trying to wipe away the rivers running down his face, “I-It’s okay…I know what I need to do now.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous or anything,” joked Sero, making everyone chuckle, though Izuku’s was more of a watery hiccup.

Shinka gazed solemnly at him.

“A-ah, sorry, Shinka-chan,” he mumbled, trying to smile, “I promised not to cry, didn’t I…?”

Wordlessly, she stood up, pattered around the table towards him, and gave him a hug. “Don’t be sad, nii-san.”

“S-sorry…” Izuku murmured, wiping his face some more.

The little girl squeezed him tighter.

ML

Sero bent his arms experimentally as the group filed out of the police station. “Nngh, so I’m not the only one feeling weird after that girl touched me, right?” he asked, “Feeling kinda itchy inside my elbows here.”

“I’m feeling a little disoriented myself,” admitted Shouji, rubbing at his extra arms, “I assume it’s just a temporary side-effect from that girl’s Quirk.”

“It’s a lot less than what it did to me,” sighed Izuku, “I had a fever and a nosebleed.”

Sero gave a pained smile. “On the other hand this isn’t so bad!”

“Perhaps we should exchange contact information,” suggested the tallest boy, pulling out his phone, “Since we’ve been drawn into this conspiracy.”

“You’re really taking this all in stride, aren’t you? I repeat, holy shit,  _ time travel! _ Villains taking over in the future! All Might! Getting my Quirk juiced up into a real superpower! This sure as hell isn’t what I expected when I wanted to go pro, ya know?”

Shouji only shook his head. “I might not show it, but I’m just as surprised as you.”

Izuku laughed nervously, even as he pulled out his own phone. “S-so, you wanted to trade numbers?”

“If you don’t mind. I have a feeling that we’ll want to stay in contact.”

“Y-yeah, sure!”

“Hell yeah! If we’re all heading to Yuuei, it doesn’t hurt to hang out and trade tips or whatever.”

Izuku perked up. “Oh! I’ve got all sorts of notes about pro heroes, if you think that’d help! I don’t have them on me right now, but I like to think there should be one or two useful things inside…”

“Oi, kids! Hurry up would ya!” called Satori from down the block.

“Er...maybe we should save it for when we get back to the past,” he muttered bashfully.

Sero snickered. “Hey, no rush. I wanna see how we’re getting back anyway.”

When they approached the mysterious young girl, Deku winced as his new ability to sense the minds of others picked her up. Her aura was...stunted, almost. It clung tightly to her, actively shrinking into her body when she made eye contact. It was like she was actively shutting herself off from any interactions and simply acting. Frowning, Izuku extended a tendril and brushed it against her aura.

She stilled, her one visible eye widening, and the boy had to fight not to recoil as that brief contact immediately echoed with dark, omnipresent  _ misery. _ He sucked in a breath, shaking himself slightly. “A-ah, you can go ahead of me,” he told the other boys, “Just, um, give her your phone card, and you’ll get another call.”

“Gotcha, gotcha,” said Sero, saluting flippantly even as Satori and Matsuda vanished in a flicker of static.

The girl stared directly at Izuku, even as she took Shouji and Sero’s cards, making them vanish back into the past.

“...S-sorry, did I overstep back there?” he asked her concernedly, “It’s just…” What should he say? What  _ could _ he say that could combat such darkness and hurt?

Acting on impulse, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “It will be okay. I promise.”

The girl said nothing, standing straight as a rod, her eyes widening further. “...Nothing is okay.” It was faint, but she definitely spoke. “There’s nothing that can be saved anymore.”

“Even so, I’ll make it okay!” he swore to her, releasing her, “We’ll change this, all of it!” The feelings that he’d glimpsed in her stood out vividly in his memory. The feelings of a girl who had never learned how to smile. “And I’ll become a hero who can make you smile!”

She said nothing, staring at him coldly. Then, she looked away, and under all the hair and the medical mask, he thought he saw something wet. “...Do what you want. Card.”

When his phone rang a moment later and he answered it, Izuku was filled with a heavy, bitter feeling…like he had only made a tiny crack in a block of stone.

_ I promise…I promise, I’ll make things right! _

ML

After saying goodbye to Sero and Shouji, as well as exchanging numbers with them, he’d immediately cast out telepathically to contact his mother. She was startled, then shocked to learn that he’d been spirited away yet again without her knowing. Apologizing for making her worry, he vowed to make it up to her. And then, as he hurried for home, he sent out another telepathic broadcast.

The next day was a weekend, and Izuku made his way to Dagobah Beach. It was still early enough that the sun was coming over the beach, but the sooner he could see Toga, the better.

As he stepped onto the sands, he spotted the pale haired visage of his first friend. “Toga-san?” he called.

The blood user spun around and stomped towards him. “There you are! Do you know how worried I was when you vanished like that!” She pouted. “What the hell was that?”

“I...wish I could tell you, but…I can’t.” Internally, he winced.  _ That’s not how you keep her from becoming a villain. _

Her already narrow eyes narrowed even further.

“I mean it!” he protested, “I literally can’t! Look-” He tried connecting to her mind, and thought about the previous day, only to immediately blank out.

“Guh!” she shook her head. “Alright, I believe you!”

He disconnected, blinking as his thoughts reengaged. “Sorry…if I could tell you, I really would…but I dunno if you’d believe me.”  _ And it’s not like I can tell you that I saw you become a villain. _

“It’s okay, Izu-kun.” She gave him a small smile, making him squirm guiltily. “Anyway! You got any more ideas on how to practice?”

Izuku blinked. “Huh? Um...yeah!” He turned to the piles of junk, drawing up his PSI, “I actually had this one while I was waiting for…anyway, lemme show you!”

Pulling the dumpster closer, he turned towards the closest pile of debris and concentrated. As the PSI left his body, he concentrated, keeping it from dispersing as he formed a cloud around the pieces of garbage, letting it seep into the pile.  _ Just like when I pulled the milk out of the tea, I need to suffuse it inside and out… _

Then, as he focused his will, the top half of the pile began to lift up, individual pieces drifting, but still moving in defiance with gravity. Grinning in triumph, Izuku moved them all over to the empty dumpster and lowered them in gently, before finally releasing his power.

“You did it!” cheered Toga, her full grin back in place as she raised a hand, “You figured out how to do multiple objects! Yay~!”

Izuku laughed, cheeks turning pink as he shyly high-fived her in return. “It’s not that much worse than normal, so it’d be totally doable to use this for rescue work…”

“Oi, Deku!”

His good cheer vanished as a familiar voice made him jump. Bakugou Katsuki was walking towards them, his usual scowl in place.

“K-Kacchan?” he squeaked, “What’re you doing here-?”

“Whatever I damn want,” grunted the blonde, completely ignoring Toga, “What are  _ you _ doing in this dump? Scrounging to make support gadgets or something?’

Izuku shrank in on himself. If he explained his new powers, then Bakugou would just call him a delusional liar… 

“Heeh~” drawled Toga, “So you really are a yappy little dog, aren’t you?”

Bakugou’s red-eyed glare intensified. “Hah?”

“Yeah, I’m here!” she said cheerfully, giving one of her signature grins, “Hi! I’m Toga Himiko! I already know who you are, Bakugou-kun!” 

The explosive user scoffed. “Like I give a shit. Oi, Deku, where’d you find this creep? Did you need to find someone even crazier than you? Lemme guess, you told her all about how I’m the best or how i’m gonna be the number 1 hero at UA?”

Toga’s smile dropped. “Yeah, he told me how you wanted that. He said that you’re ambitious an’ junk.”

“Tch. At least he knows that muc-”

“He also told me about how you’re the  _ worst.” _

He stopped. A pop rose from his hands. “Wanna run that by me again?”

Izuku stood frozen, too terrified to move or speak.

“Those explosions make you deaf or something?” she scoffed, “I thought that Izu-kun was just shy naturally, but I don’t need to be psychic to figure out that it’s ‘cause of you.”

Bakugou glared at her. “...And? What’re you gonna do about it?”

“T-Toga-san…” mumbled the green-haired boy, reaching out to grab her sleeve.

Her manic grin returned, a vicious edge to it. “Don’t come around here and bother Izu-kun.”

“Hah? Who the hell do you-”

“I told you. I’m Toga Himiko. And if you keep making my friend feel bad, I’ll  _ cut _ you.”

There was a bang and a plume of smoke as Bakugou raised his hands. “You wanna go, you little psycho?!”

“Do you? ‘Cause you’re the one who barged in while we were training Izu-kun’s powers.”

That actually gave him pause. “Powers? The fuck you on about? Deku’s Quirkless, he doesn’t have any power!”

“Mmm~ You’re half right~” giggled Toga, sauntering forward, “But whatever! I’ll let Izu-kun tell you himself if he wants~”

Bakugou’s hand shot out, grabbing the front of her shirt and pulling her close until she was face to face with him. “Don’t you  _ fucking _ look down on me!” he snarled, eyes blazing with fury, “I won’t take it from that useless nerd, and I won’t take it from-”

**“Kacchan.”** At the sight of his friend being forcibly manhandled, Izuku forced himself to act. A tendril of his mind lashed out and dug into Bakugou’s aura, spreading tendrils throughout it and making the boy go still.  **“This is none of your business,”** he told him firmly,  **“Go away.”**

For a second, the other boy’s face went slack with confusion. Then, with a snort of disgust, he shoved Toga back. “Whatever. Not like it’s my business how you spend your time,” he scoffed, turning on his heel and walking away, “Seeya when you flunk out of Yuuei, nerd!”

The two of them watched, stunned, as the boy strutted out of sight. Then, Izuku’s blood ran cold as he realized what he’d just done. “Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god  _ oh god!” _ he whimpered, collapsing onto his knees, “He’s gonna kill me. Once that wears off, he’ll figure it out and then he’ll blow me up…!”

“What did you do?!” Toga exclaimed, gazing at him and attempting to tug him back to his feet, “You got him to back down so easily!”

“I…!” Izuku gulped, feeling nauseous, “I used my PSI to directly influence his mind. Oh god, if he tells anyone, it’d go on my record! I’d never be able to get into Yuuei!”

‘“That’s assuming he knows it’s your Quirk.”

“He’ll know. Kacchan is a piece of work, but he’s also smart. And it’s not a Quirk, I told you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah. Anyway, that kinda power seems like it’d be super handy against villains, so I bet the guys at Yuuei would like that, especially after seeing what a garbage-fire he is.”

Izuku’s panic broke just enough for him to let out a sputtering laugh.

“But seriously, you stopped him cold! I was totally ready to fight him too…” Toga paused, before pouting. “Actually, couldn’t you have waited a little bit? I wanted to make him bleed some!”

He paused, blinking at her, then just laughed even harder.

“Aw come on! What’s so funny now?” she asked.

“S-sorry!” he chuckled, finally climbing to his feet, “It’s just, normally you’d complain about the blood first, instead of waiting until now!”

“I-” Toga stopped, reeling back slightly. “I-I, uh…” Her face slackened, and for once, the predatory air that joined her every expression was gone, and she looked completely caught off-guard.

“Thanks for being there, Toga-san,” continued Izuku, smiling at her, “Really. You were really cool, standing up to Kacchan for me.”

She struggled to bring back her grin, but only managed a small, wobbly smile, her cheeks turning pink. “W-well…it’s normal to wanna stick up for your friends, right?”

His smile widened. “Of course!”

“…I really did something…normal, then?”

“You did!”

Toga’s aura flared and writhed about, the dark, rusty colors momentarily pulsing with tendrils of warmer colors. “Then, since we’re friends, you can call me Himiko!”

Now it was Izuku’s turn to blush. “A-ah! Um, right! S-sure thing To- er, H-H-H-Himiko-san!”

She pouted. “Better. But gimme a -chan next time, Izu-kun!”

Quirk: Dupli-Arms. The ends of his extra arms can morph into copies of any of his other body parts, such as mouths, ears and eyes. Awakened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN
> 
> NS: At last, it’s done! Why is it always chapter 4 of a fic that gives me the most trouble…?
> 
> UO: Because that’s typically when you start actually putting canon information in and from experience that’s been one of your weakest areas. Which is a lot of issues with crossovers actually putting them together
> 
> NS: No my weakest area is researching logistics. That’s your area. Anyway, in this Deku gets to see the consequences of his time traveling, no matter how temporary it might be from his perspective, and everyone’s favorite little psycho gets just a little bit more wholesome.*
> 
> *Slightly better adjusted.
> 
> Deku's card number: 91
> 
> Quirks!
> 
> Sero Hanta  
> Age: 14  
> Quirk: Tape. He can shoot tape from his elbows, which he can then retract or tear off to creat sticky traps! This power has been Awakened and may exhibit new effects.  
> PSYREN number: 98
> 
> Shouji Mezou  
> Age: 15  
> Quirk: Dupli-Arms. The ends of Shouji's extra arms can morph into duplicates of any part of his body, such as mouths, eyes and ears. Awakened.  
> PSYREN number: 99


	5. The Shape of Your Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku gets himself some more solid training, while Toga struggles with herself.

“Speech”  
Text  
 _Thoughts_  
 _Mental communication_  
 **Monstrous/Empowered form**  
 **Super Move**

Chapter 5: The Shape of Your Future

Izuku jogged down the street, his mind racing as always. Both Sero and Shouji had agreed readily to meet up with him over the phone, but even so, he hoped that they weren’t too irritated by his request. He could have contacted them via telepathy, but that seemed extremely rude, and doing it over the phone ran the risk of them going speechless if anyone were to overhear them and make things awkward.

Adding to his stress had been his attempts at explaining to Toga why she couldn’t join in on the gathering. The blood user had been persistent and it wasn’t until he promised a day out with her that she was satisfied.

 _I’ll have to deal with that when it comes. But now, I need to talk to Sero and Shouji. What do I say though?_ Lost in thought, he didn’t even realize he’d arrived until he was walking in the door, having navigated there on autopilot. 

“Midoriya-san,” Shouji’s voice called out, raising his arm. He was dressed in a tank top and combat fatigues. Sero sat next to him in a booth, looking around to see him

“Souji-kun, Sero-kun!” Izuku exclaimed, striding over to meet them with a nervous smile, “I didn’t make you wait too long, did I?”

“Relax, man,” chuckled Sero as he sat down across from them, “It’s not like I had much going on. My workout can wait for a bit.”

Shouji nodded, raising his coffee to one of his tentacles, which sprouted a mouth at the end. He grew another mouth as the first drank, saying, “After the ordeal we shared, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to share information with each other, especially since we all have the same goal.”

Izuku nodded. “Yes…although, given that I’ve already had it happen, I guess I’d be the one doing most of the sharing.”

“Probably,” said Sero, smirking. “So, freaky time travel stuff. Whatcha got for us, Midoriya?”

He sighed, scratching his forehead. “Well, it’s more or less what they told us back in the police station. At some point in a few years, powerful villains will rise up and wreak havoc on society, forcing All Might into retirement and k-killing many other heroes.” He shuddered at the thought. “Tokkyou Kawasemi used her Quirk to pull people out of the past, in order to warn them and have them change the future. Shinka-chan is the key to that, I think. She can make it so that all the people Kawasemi-san calls into the future can then become even stronger heroes.”

“That all makes sense,” said Shouji thoughtfully.

“Does it, though?” mumbled Sero, rubbing his head, “This time travel stuff is already confusing me…”

“But wouldn’t it also be possible that because of her using her Quirk on us, she’s already changing the future?” continued the multi-armed boy, “By having us disappear into the future, her Calls could also be what doom that future in the first place.”

Sero’s eyes widened. “Oh…oh damn. That’s a dark thought.”

Izuku bit his lip, looking down at the table. “That’s…”

Just then, a waiter arrived, asking for orders. Once they did, Izuku continued. “I’ve gone into the future...twice. The first time, I was attacked by one of the League of Villains’ monsters. They called it a Noumu. What scared me the most…I think those Nomu were people, because the Quirk it used looked familiar to me.”

“Wait, someone turned people into monsters?” Sero asked, shocked.

“Yeah...there’s no way that was just a normal Quirk.”

“If they’re being created in the future, there is reason to think they’re being created now,” Shoji hypothesized, “If everything erupts in only a few years.”

This put the very thought of these things already being made into a more horrifying perspective. “We should tell the cops, surely someone will believe us?”

“We can’t. I mean, we literally can’t talk about the future. I tried explaining what happened to my mom, but my head goes blank every time I try. We can only discuss it among ourselves. I even tried using my telepathy, but that didn’t work.”

“Then what do we do?” Sero asked as their drinks were served.

Izuku poured milk into his coffee and concentrated, causing the swirls to coalesce into the shape of All Might’s face. “The only thing we can do is train. Yuuei High can train us to use our abilities, to be ready for the upcoming threats. Have either of you noticed any changes with your Quirks?”

“Yeah, something about my tape changed. I used to only be able to spool it out, or shoot it if I strained,” said Sero, gesturing at his elbows, “But now, not only is it easier, I can actually control it. Oh, yeah, I guess I should say that my Quirk lets me make tape from my elbows. It’s pretty sticky, and I can cut it off or reel it back in.”

“Is it possible to remotely use it?” asked Izuku, sitting up straighter, his eyes becoming firmer. This was something he was surer of: discussing Quirks.

“Remotely using my tape?” The boy hummed. “Maybe, something like sentrys or something like that. I haven’t tried it.”

“What about you Souji?” 

The taller boy lifted his remaining arms, transforming the end of one into another hand, another into an eye, and the last into an ear. “My extra arms can be transformed into a copy of any of my body parts. I’ve been practicing for a while already, and I noticed that I can train to increase the functionality of my copies,” he explained patiently, speaking through a mouth. Then his extra eye’s pupil began to glow with a blue light. “Just the other day, I also realized that I could create these...energy projections from my limbs. Hands created projected hands that could manipulate things from a distance, eyes gave me orbs that can pass through walls and let me see, and so on. I can only do it for a few seconds at a time, though.”

“Then we need to do some research on what they can do in those few seconds,” Izuku hypothesized. After they finished their meals, they packed up to leave.

“So, see you guys hopefully at Yuuei unless the future decides to screw with us?” Sero asked.

“Yeah, I guess so Sero,” Izuku replied.

“With what we’ve learned, it's best to have allies to trust. We should keep in touch and be actual friends, Izuku-san.”

“F-friends?” Izuku stuttered.

“You’ve never had friends?” Sero asked.

“I...had one once...but before this, I was considered Quirkless. So no one wanted to be a friend with a Quirkless nobody.”

“Well, you got us now!” Sero grinned, “Shame we live in different areas, otherwise we could train together.”

Izuku sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. I’d love to learn some more about how Shinka-chan’s Quirk powered yours up; since I never had a Quirk, I’ve been really interested in them myself…”

“Well, you said that Shinka-san gave you some psychic abilities,” pointed out the other boy, “Isn’t that pretty much a Quirk?”

“...I mean, sort of. They’re similar, but it wasn’t mine originally.”

“Then make it your Quirk bro!” Sero told him. “Only you would know how it works. Anyway, we should get going. See ya in UA!” The tape boy ran off leaving the two teens on the sidewalk. 

Souji raised his hand in a fist. “Don’t worry, I know we will figure it out. Good luck, Midoriya.”

The greenette looked up at the taller boy and nodded, pounding their fists together before separating and heading to their homes, each with their own thoughts on what they must do to improve before the far off Entrance Exam.

Next Day

Himiko skipped down the street next to Izuku, her usual wide smile in place.`”So what should we do today Deku? We can go see UA! Oh I heard the comics shop has some new issues.

Izuku was paying attention as best he could,. Internally he was thinking about his powers. _PSI enhances my abilities tremendously, especially with Rise. But it’s too much to use for more than a few minutes. I can dial down the increase, but a minor amount won’t let me do anything too useful. I need control, something that I won’t burn myself out over._ As he looked around, out of the corner of his he noticed a sign in chinese with a large glass window. As he came to a stop, , he watched through the window as a middle aged man in an old chinese gi practiced against a wooden dummy, with multiple bars at strategic points on its body. Izuku was amazed as the man seemingly flowed around each bar, striking at particular sections with coordinated punches and chops, a satisfying thunk accompanying each hit.

“Izu-kun?” Toga called out. “Whatcha doing?” She looked where he was watching and saw the man hitting the dummy. “Whoa…he’s doing that without a Quirk?”

“I think so,” Izuku said walking up to the door and opening it. A small bell sounded, but the teacher paid no attention as he finished his movements. Once he did, he turned to regard the students. “Can I help you two?”

“What were those moves?” Toga asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet and tilting her head to take in his figure, “If that thing were a human, it woulda been on the ground in no time flat!”

“Sorry, she’s very energetic. I’m Midoriya Izuku and she’s Toga Himiko. We were walking by and we saw you practicing.”

The man nodded. “Yes, well, this is a Jeet Kun Do dojo. It’s been a while since anyone’s shown any interest in it.” He smiled. “You interested?”

“Ah, er, well…I guess it would be handy to pick up a fighting style as a Hero,” said Izuku, mostly to himself, “Actually, this could be something that could help me be more efficient with Rise.”

The teacher hummed. “You want to be a Hero, don’t you? It’s pretty easy to see, especially with the way things are nowadays. Your eyes, they hold . You hold much doubt in your heart, both of you. Perhaps, you can learn my art.”

The sensei looked at the far wall showing a muscular chinese man looking reading to strike. “In the era before Quirks, men and women competed using their fists. But these arts, Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, don't mimic real world conditions. Jeet Kune Do, founded by Lee Jun Fah, was founded to actually teach people how to fight in the real world through actual techniques. With Quirks, it seems the teachings have disappeared, as they treat the art of heroing as a job.” He looked at the two. “But the fire in your eyes, maybe, you can teach people how to be heroes again. No flashy moves, just raw ability to get the job done without harming people. Tell me, what are your Quirks?”

“I can create a special kind of energy that can be used for different effects,” Izuku explained, “Including enhancing my strength, speed, senses and other parts of my body.”

“I…don’t wanna say,” the blood user muttered, “It’s a bad Quirk for fighting…”

“Would you be willing to learn?” The teacher asked. 

The two students looked at each other. For once, Himiko was the one with hesitation in her eyes, while Deku’s gleamed with excitement and anticipation. She sighed, and both of them nodded at him.

“Good, get your parents permission or even come here and we will start.”

Himiko’s mouth twisted, but she nodded tightly.

“What should we call you?” Izuku asked.

“You may call me Nura-sensei.”

TML

Several weeks went by since Toga and Izuku had started training under Nura-sensei. The style they were being taught relied primarily on being able to counter one's moves, while being able flow freely through a fight. In effect, they would fight without being constrained to one particular style. With Izuku’s analytical skills it was quite easy for him to break down one’s attack patterns and counter them. On top of this, because of how physically demanding this art would be, Nura worked out a plan to build up their core and leg strength. Considering they were applying to Yuuei, this was a smart idea in general, but now they could focus on building the right muscles.

Izuku breathed out as he lowered himself to the ground in a push up, in order to build up his upper arm strength. The green haired boy closed his eyes, focusing on generating PSI. He could feel the energy flowing much easier now that he had a proper mental image of what he wanted it to accomplish. Every day since his lessons began, he had learned to focus his mind via his katas and his sparring with Toga. Now, he could dial up the Rise with his movements, strengthening himself only when he struck, otherwise keeping the power to a manageable trickle.

 _Every day is a new situation, just like every Quirk is different,_ Izuku thought. _Life is like water, ever flowing and changing shape. I need to think like that and adapt everyday._

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

He yelped, eyes flying open as he looked down to see Himiko squatting directly in front of him, staring down at him, almost like a cat with her narrowed eyes. “W-when did you get there?!” he gasped, only barely keeping himself from collapsing. Ordinarily his Thought-Aura senses from Trance PSI would have let him know that his female friend was close even with his eyes closed, but he’d been completely unaware.

“You were concentrating on something and I thought I could try and sneak up on you,” Toga giggled. “You done training?”

“For now, I guess,” Izuku muttered, rolling onto the ground, “A break wouldn’t hurt…” Standing up, he blushed slight as he took in Toga’s attire, a tank top and boy shorts.

“You’re really throwin’ yourself into it,” said the blonde, wrapping her hands around her knees, “It’s exhausting just watching you.”

“Must be why I couldn’t sense you, come one, we’re gonna be late for dinner,” he said walking towards the edge of the park, the pale blonde following.

After a few minutes of walking, Toga sniffed the air. “I smell...blood?”

“Huh?” Izuku wondered looking around. Over by the side he could see something. It was a buck, probably killed by a random car running over it or was collateral damage from a recent fight. “Oh man, this poor thing was very young.” 

Glancing over at Toga, frowned as she shuddered violently, wrapping her arms around herself. Her pupils narrowed into slits, and her lips drew back into her usual predatory smile, now even wider and somehow showing off even more teeth. “H-Himiko-chan, what’re you doing?”

She took a step towards the body. “S...smells good…” she murmured, licking her lips, “Nnnh…it’s going to waste…no, no, that’s no good…”

Izuku felt a chill. He of course knew about Himiko’s obsession with blood; it had been one of the first things she revealed to him and one of the things they’d worked on focusing controlling the blood lust.with their recent training with meditation and breathing exercises.

“Himiko? Himiko, snap out of it!”

“But it's right there! I need it!” Himiko moaned.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Izuku pulled the pale blonde into the trees and knelt in the bushes. “Himiko, remember your training!”

She blinked, only seeming to just notice him. “Izu-kun…!” she mumbled, biting her lip, her yellow eyes shining with a near-crazed light. Her aura spiked around her, the rusty color almost flaking away to expose a sinister crimson.

Looking into her eyes, he made a snap decision. Holding up his arm, he told her, “Bite my arm, then!”

Himiko in her state didn’t even think twice and chomped down, getting a pained grunt from her friend. As the blood flowed into her mouth, the crimson aura slowly vanished, her eyes starting to regain clarity and sanity. After a few moments, she carefully let go, backing away.

Izuku rubbed the spot where she bit down. “That was close.” He heard sniffling and saw Himiko shaking. “Himiko-chan?”

“Why…” she asked, her voice shaking, trying to hold back tears. “Why do I keep doing things like this! There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there. I can tell…all that stuff about helping people, like what you want…the moment I see blood, all that stops mattering…” She curled in on herself, burying her face. “Izu-kun…I w-want to be like you, but…I’m no good…someone like me can’t be…!”

“H-Himiko-chan…” Izuku found himself at a loss, seeing his friend all hunched up and trembling. He knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s…It’s okay. You stopped all by yourself, didn’t you? Once you got my blood, you came back to yourself and stopped. That was all you, Himiko!”

“I shouldn’t have done that to begin with,” she mumbled, ashamed.

“So you had a setback...you’ve been doing great since we met. Before, you…probably would have chomped on that deer, yeah. The fact you held yourself back means you’re serious about changing it,” Izuku assured her. “Do you not think someone like All Might or Crimson Riot had bad days? It comes with being a hero. You’re allowed to not be okay, Himiko. I’ll be there if you need me.”

“I need more than that,” Himiko said miserably. Sludge oozed from her form, transforming her into a copy of Izuku. “You’re such a good person, and I want to be like that, be like you.”

He bit his lip. “I don’t think that will make you as happy as you think it will.”

“It’s better than being me.”

“No…I don’t think the world needs two heroes like me. I think it needs one like me, and one like you!” he told her. At this, she finally raised her face to look at him, her cheeks wet, eyes reddened. Ironically, it was rather appropriate, given that she was wearing his own crybaby face. “Himiko…you can become a Hero, even with the way you are. I believe that you can do it!”

She sniffed. “D…don’t say stuff so earnestly. You’ll make me believe it too…”

“It’s the truth,” Izuku told her nuzzling her hair.

“Can...I work with you?”

“Of course you can, there’s nothing that says we can’t work together. We’re both going to Yuuei, aren’t we? Plus, we can meet so many others. You know I met these two the other day, one who could shoot tape out of his elbows, and the other was huge!”

Toga giggled as Izuku started to rattle off what he had learned, the doubt of her being a hero disappearing like the wind.

TML

Izuku snapped his leg forward, catching Toga in the forearms, before leaping back from her own swipe, a serious, focused stare on his face. Off to the side, Nura was watching with a smile, remembering the progress these two had made. He watched as Izuku’s arms blurred as he launched a 1-2 counter punch, moving unnaturally quickly with his strikes. Toga’s own counter attack was ducked under with a smoothness that made the older man grin, before hitting her in the shoulder with a kick.

“Are you reading my mind again?” Toga growled, pouting.

He blinked, his intense expression clearing up. “Ah…maybe?” Izuku grinned before the blonde tackled him to the ground.

Nura chuckled as the two rolled around on the ground. “Alright, that’s enough for today. I am sure we don’t want to have any extra bruises before your exams coming up.

“No, sensei,” they chorused as they stood up and bowed to him.

As they exited the dojo, Toga spun around on him. “You’re really intense when you’re on the attack, you know that?”

He scratched the back of his head. “I mean…now that I know how to move and attack, I can use Trance and Rise at the same time.”

“I know, I know, be like water. But your telepathy makes it unfair,” Toga pouted.

Izuku chuckled. “I guess it is…but that’s what it’s like to have powers, isn’t it?” Just then, he heard his phone ring. “Oh man...not now…” the greenette whined.

“What?” Toga asked.

“Do…you remember when I disappeared the last time?” Izuku asked.

“Its happening again!? Where the hell do you go?”

Izuku grimaced. “I physically can’t tell you.”

“Do you know when you’ll be back?” 

“No,” he sighed.

“Then…come back safely. You need to become a Hero, right?” She gave him a grin

He smiled back. “Yeah, that’s right. But you need to be one too. So no matter how long it takes, do your best, Himiko-chan. Alright?”

The blonde’s usual grin thinned slightly. “...I’ll try.”

He squeezed her upper arm reassuringly. “And that’s enough.” He pulled out his phone and, seeing the familiar PSYREN symbol emblazoned on the screen, answered it. “Hello?”

Toga jumped as her friend vanished in a rush of air and static. “But…wasn’t his phone turned off…?’ she asked aloud, cocking her head.

TML

Izuku landed in the middle of the street after the light disappeared. Looking around, he could see he was in the middle of a ruined neighborhood, with multiple burnt out cars. The buildings looked utterly gutted

“Damn it, another bad future,” Izuku mumbled, pulling out his phone and pressing the speed dial for Detective Tsukauchi. A few rings later, he heard the detectives voice. _“Midoriya, are you okay?”_

“Yeah, I’m fine, just in a really bad neighborhood. Though it was good just a few seconds ago”

_“Stay put, we will send someone to find you!”_

Izuku heard a loud roar. “Um...you might want to hurry up on that! I don’t think I’m alone.” From behind a building, a large, lanky figure loped into view. A familiar figure, growled as it approached. Izuku watched as the figure opened its mouth and to his surprise it spoke.

 **“I can smell the fucking fear on you. I think I’ll enjoy crushing you,”** growled the Blasting Noumu, sparks crackling from its hands.

Indeed, a thrill of terror surged through Izuku’s body, followed a moment later by PSI as he traced Rise through his body, turned and ran. “What the hell? Since when could these things speak?”

 **“You’re not getting away!”** *BOOOM!* The ground rumbled as the Noumu’s hands exploded, launching it into the air to arc over Izuku. It crashed down, spinning around to face him. **“I’m the one who always comes out on top!”** it snarled.

The boy paused. Something about its choice of words was sounding awfully familiar to him… _Impossible, these things couldn’t just copy people, right? Unless it had the right combination of Quirks. But…explosive fluids in the arms? It can’t be…_

**“What’s the matter, you pebble? You wanna fight me? You don’t know your place, you useless piece of trash!”**

“Kacchan…!” the name left his mouth before he could stop himself, but even so, Izuku realized that this was who he was looking at.

The Noumu paused, its monstrous face twisting into outright hatred. **“...Deku.”** The sacks along its arms began to bulge, filling with excess explosive sweat. **“Deeeeeeeekuuuuuuuuu…!”** it hissed.

“SHIT!” Deku cursed. “Kacchan, what happened to you?”

 **“DEKUUUU!!!!!!”** The now identified Katsuki Noumu roared, pointing its hands at him. Izuku leaped out of the way as hard as he could.

**BOOOOOM!**

The resulting explosion created a shockwave that rattled the nearby buildings destroying the glass and ripping up the road in a 15 foot stretch. The boy landed hard, stumbling, but keeping on his feet.

“Kaachan, snap out of it!

This only made the beast angrier as he charged at him causing him to dodge the swipe.

 _I need to stop him and figure out what the hell happened. Maybe I can control his mind?_ He thought, _It worked before…_

Before he could put his plan in motion, the creature let out a growl of pain as a knife buried itself in its upper arm. A figure landed in front of Izuku, a dark cloak billowing around them.

 **“You again?”** The Noumu wrenched the knife free and tossing it away, the wound sealing closed in an instant. **“That shit won’t work on me again!**

“Oh don’t worry,” The figure giggle holding up her blade and licking it. “I got all I need.”

Despite being older, Izuku knew that voice anywhere. “You’re…?”

The Noumu stiffened up, its hateful eyes glazing over. Then, with a gesture from the woman, it turned and sprinted off in the opposite direction.

“There’s no one in that part of town anymore. Saving you takes priority,” said the heroine, turning to face him and showing off the entirety of her costume. The woman’s cloak was lined with pockets, and she wore a tight-fitting leotard that showed off her long legs, with several pouches strapped around her waist and thighs. Several knives were sheathed at her sides, as well as the insides of her cloak. Her blonde hair was gathered up into a large bun at the back of her head, and her face bore a look of cool, predatory focus.

Izuku smiled, tears welling up in his eyes. “I knew you could do it, Himiko.”

She grinned back at him, with a tinge of bitterness. “You kept me waiting just for that? You sure can be mean, Izu-kun!”

For a moment, he forgot all about the horrible future timeline that he was in.

After all, it surely couldn’t be so bad now, with his friend as a Hero.

TML

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And there we have it. A little on the short side this time, but eh, what can ya do?
> 
> UO: We’re about to get into canon material, so this is a set up.
> 
> NS: Yeah, I belatedly realized that having a series of Calls all throughout the ten months would have just dragged down the story, so I decided to compromise. You’ll see what I mean next chapter.
> 
> Profiles
> 
> Name: Unagi Nura  
> Age: 57  
> Quirk: Bend. His bones are more akin to rubber, allowing him to bend at any spot. In fact, if he doesn’t stretch often, he’s liable to feel arthritic in the morning.
> 
> Hero Name: The Scarlet Hero, Carmilla  
> Age: 25  
> Quirk: Sanguine. This dark Heroine’s Awakened Quirk allows her to pull off a number of abilities as long as she has energy stored up from drinking blood, ranging from transforming into mist, to creating a mental link with those she drinks from. Holy water does nothing!


End file.
